The Lost Memory
by nbaluver11
Summary: Years after the Second Titan War, life has mellowed out for demigods. But when a god's in trouble, the new demigod at Camp Half-Blood and his friends will have to step up for the challenge. This is a book, more so than a fan fiction, and it's not about the Seven or anyone else.
1. Chapter 1

**This is not about the Seven. This is after, and a new generation of demigods. This is my first FanFiction, so it may be a little rusty. I don't own this idea, blah blah, and thank for reading. This is a _book,_ not really a fanfic, it's 99% new characters.**

Today is a day for many firsts.

"Pietro? Can you get us some milk? Hurry, because the store will close soon," my mother calls from her desk.

I groan and get up from the couch. "Then I don't want to do my Algebra tonight," I call from the TV room.

"No, you are still doing your Algebra!" She tells me. "Just get me my milk!"

This time, I groan audibly, just so she can hear. I grab some money from her wallet and walk toward the door.

I'm homeschooled, so my mom calls all the shots, like in _everything_. I've been homeschooled forever, because my mother is a _genius_ and wants to teach me herself. She doesn't usually have time to teach me, so that is left to her assistant, Natasha.

When I'm at her doorway, I ask, "Can I go to a _real_ school next year?" It's a tradition, whenever I leave the house, I ask that same question.

"That's the 218th time you asked me that, and the answer is the same. No," she smiles at me and I walk outside. She keeps count of how many times I ask that question. I'd say we have a healthy relationship.

"Bye, be back in a bit. Love you!" I holler as I walk outside. She door shuts and I can hear her faintly telling me she loves me.

We do a lot of yelling in our house, just because it's so big. It's silly how big it is for just us two, including Natasha. We use maybe six rooms regularly, and we have more than fifteen.

I walk to the grocery store down the block, and hear a_ ding_ when I enter. I greet the cashier that's always there. She pulls off her headphones and says, "We're closing up soon."

"Yea, my mom told me to hurry up. I'm just buying milk," I explain. She nods and puts her headphones back on. After walking to the refrigerated section, I realize how nice the coolness feels. Even at dusk, Southern California can be brutally hot.

I wait a moment, basking in the cool air from the refrigerator. Back at the entrance, I hear a _ding _and hear the cashier greet a customer.

I look down the aisle and see the person who walked in. He turns out to be a small man in an oversized trench coat. It strikes me as weird, that he would wear such a heavy thing on a hot day, but I cast it aside. I've seen some weird things here in Los Angeles.

The strange thing I noticed was that we was coming down this aisle. Not much is in this corner of the store besides the milk and eggs. He doesn't stop at the eggs, so I'm assuming he's buying milk, too.

I look back to the selections of milk and decide which one we usually get. The familiar cow design on one of the gallon bottles catches my eye. I loop my hand through the handle and turn to go.

I bump right into the small man, not knowing he was right next to me. I mumble a _sorry,_ and try to step around him, but he moves to intercept me.

Alarm bells ring in my head. I look up, my eyes as big as saucers. My heart suddenly starts pounding and I make another move to go around him.

This time, he hisses and shows _fangs_ instead of teeth. I reel backwards, scared out of my mind. Things are moving so quickly, my mind is on autopilot.

My back hits a door to a refrigerator, and I realize I'm stuck. The only way out is getting by the creepy dude.

Before I can say or do anything, the short man does something weird, _really _weird. His trench coat opens up and starts molding to his arms. My eyes widen even more and my heart is bursting through my ribs. He hisses again, but this time, his fangs get longer.

I just stand there, trying to figure out if this is real. But by the time I take things in, he has already turned into some sort of monster. His leathery wings beat once, and he is airborne. I try and step back again, but hit the fridge door again.

He lunges at me, claws extended. I didn't realize that he has claws, but now that they're streaking toward me, I do. Every instinct tells me to run, but I have no place to go.

The next decision I make is to fight. I still have the damned milk, and I have no time to let go of it. I swing randomly with my right hand and gallon of milk, my eyes on the verge of closing.

I have a longer reach, so I hit the _thing_ right in the shoulder. The milk container bursts on the impact, and sends a shock through my arm. I didn't hit him hard enough to move him much, but I do change his course so he hits only my left side. The claws barely miss me, but he crashes into my shoulder, breaking the glass behind me and tumbling gallons and gallons of milk onto the both of us.

I finally find my voice and cry out, pain up both my arms. Milk is in my eyes and all over my clothes, with puddles at my feet. I scramble up, away from the monster. He's still lying on the ground, half of him in the fridge, half dangling out. He groans and shifts amidst the milk and broken glass. His wings are bent at an unnatural angle.

Movement at the corner of my eye draws my head away from the beast. I see Natasha, my mom's assistant, at the end of the aisle with a bow in her hands.

I double-take. _Natasha_ has a _bow and arrow_ in her hands. She doesn't look at me, but keeps her eyes on the thing. She releases one of her hands and the arrow darts by me and into the back of the beast.

It lets out a small groan and _poofs_ into thin air. My brain goes wild, trying to figure out how that happened. All that is left of him is some yellow dust that has a strong smell.

My legs barely hold me up as I slowly walk to Natasha. She comes quickly, half running to my side. She stuffs her bow into a backpack that seems too small to fit such a bow.

"What just-? How did you-?" I splutter. I expect to lean on her but she roughly takes my hand and leads me away from the aisle. "But-? Wait, can you tell me-."

"Shush. Wait until we are home. I don't want another word from you until we are home," she tells me sharply and pulls me toward the market exit.

We pass the cashier and she looks at us blankly. I'd assume she would react differently to someone who is covered in milk and yellow dust.

"There was an accident in the last aisle. I think you should clean it up," Natasha explains to the cashier. She nods in return, and walks stiffly to the milk and egg aisle. Natasha's voice was so commanding that I felt I should clean up the mess.

Once we are outside, I stop abruptly. "What just happened inside?" I look into Natasha's eyes, looking for an answer, but they dart around nervously. My arms start hurting again, and this time more painfully than before.

"I _told_ you, we can't stay here. I'll tell you everything once we get home," she grabs my arm and starts dragging me. More pain floods my arm, and I shake her off.

"Ow, ow. Okay, just don't drag me," I want to stop right there in the parking lot to nurse my arms, but Natasha's expression urges me otherwise.

We walk home quickly, much to my protests. Every time I walked and my arms swung by my side, pain would throb in my shoulders. Natasha tells me to hurry up a few times, but besides that, we stay quiet.

We get to the gate of out house, and Natasha fumbles with the lock. With a _click,_ we are in. She lets out a sigh of relief, and walks me toward the front door.

When we are inside, I open my mouth to ask a bunch of questions, but Natasha calls out, "Gianna, it's happened."


	2. Chapter 2

"What? What happened?" My mom replies faintly from her office.

"Good question, what happened? Can you explain to me what is happening?" I ask to Natasha as we walk to the kitchen. The first thing I do is go to the sink and rinse my face. But even that simple action brings back the pain in my shoulders.

I hear a rustling coming from my mother's office and I know she is on her way. A moment later, she comes into view, out of breath.

I slump into one of the kitchen stools, letting my arms rest. "It was bound to happen," my mother says while sitting on a stool next to me. Natasha follows and sits on the other side of me.

"What was bound to happen? Will someone _please_ explain to me what just happened?" I look from my mom to Natasha and back.

"I'll tell you , but you need to listen to me for now. Tell me what happened out there. What you _think _happened," my mother prompts me. Drops of milk fall from my clothes and make a _splat _sound on the floor.

"Should I change or something?" I ask and realize these wet, stinky clothes are uncomfortable.

"In a minute, but this is very important," my mom replies. I give her a questioning look, but don't say anything.

"Okay, well I was getting milk, and this small man comes and pushes me. I try to move out of the way but he starts turning into some sort of monster. He flew at me, like _flew_ at me, with wings, but I hit him aside with some milk," I pause because my mom looks confused.

"It was a gallon of milk, in one of those packages," Natasha explains. My mom nods and tells me to go on.

"Well, either it was lactose intolerant or Natasha's arrow hit the right spot, because it blew up into some sort of yellow dust," I leave out some minor details like the man's trench coat, or breaking a glass door,

They both crack a smile at my joke, and I allow myself to smile, too. "Okay, we need to have a talk, but first go take a shower, you stink," my mother says while smiling.

"Oh no, I want a few answers," I begin. "First of all, was that thing real?" I want to know if what I saw _actually _happened. "I've read enough fantasy books to know that monsters aren't real. They don't exist in real life," I explain.

"That's a good place to start. Everything we are going to tell yours real. And you have to believe us on that," my mother looks me in the eye, her Italian accent kicking in. She does that when she is serious. "Your life is going to turn into one of your fantasy books."

With that, she gets up and walks around me. "Go take a shower, and quickly. We have a lot of talking to do."

I look at her to see if she is kidding, but my mom doesn't kid. I give up trying to argue, so I slide down from the stool and make my way upstairs.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally walk downstairs, clean. No one would have guessed that I was covered in milk and dust a few minutes before. I make my way to my mother's office, but she isn't there. The next place I go is to the kitchen, after smelling some food being cooked.

"There you are," Natasha says while I sit back down on a stool. They must have cleaned the kitchen, because there is no stain of milk on the floor.

My mom comes up to me with Natasha's backpack; the one she had on when she killed the monster. "Sine this will be very hard to believe, I've gotten some things to help you understand."

I listen intently, wanting to understand what is happening. I'm still very skeptical, but after I was attacked by some morphing monster, I'll probably believe anything.

"This is her magical backpack. You can put anything in it without having to worry if it fits," my mom begins. "All you have to keep in mind is the weight. As long as you can carry it, you're good.

"Are your shoulders still hurting?" She asks, and changes the subject. I nod in return. "Well we can get something for it from the backpack. Look inside, you don't see anything."

She hands me the backpack, a plain, black school backpack, and I look inside. True to her word, I don't see anything inside. I give it back to her and she keeps explaining. "But I'm going to pull something out of it," she sticks her hand in the backpack and says, "Ambrosia."

When she pulls out her hand, she has a small square of what looks like Jell-o in her hand. I give her a puzzled look. She hands it to me and tells me to eat it.

I plop it into my mouth and chew. It tastes like my favorite food in the world, Natasha's homemade ice-cream. "Wow that is good," I say with my mouth full.

"Yea, and don't your shoulders feel much better?" Natasha asks as she cooks something on the stove.

I move my shoulders around, expecting lots of pain, but I feel only mild discomfort. "That's the food of the gods. In small doses it heals mortals, but if you eat too much, you disintegrate."

"Gods? Which gods are we talking about? I thought we are Catholic." I don't consider myself very religious, but my mother has always pushed me to go to church.

"No, we aren't Catholic. That was to cover up your smell, but we're not talking about that," my mom huffs and throws her hands into the air. "This is so difficult to explain!"

Natasha drops some pasta in boiling water and walks to me. We are face-to-face when she says, "The Greek Gods exist. That magical backpack you were playing with? Hephaestus made that for me, and the monster that almost killed you was from the underworld. Your dad is a god, and you are a demigod."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

She walks back to her pasta and stirs it. My mom looks relieved, but I'm just confused. All of this seems so unlikely and fake, but what I've been through needs a crazy explanation. "Okay, so if what you say exists, what do we do next?"

"You and Natasha are going on a train tonight and by tomorrow afternoon, you'll be at a camp, where you'll learn how to survive. You are going into one of your fictional worlds, except this one is real," my mother explains.

"But why did you not send me to this camp earlier? Why wait until I'm attacked, and almost died, to send me somewhere safe?" There are so many more questions I want to ask, but I pace myself and ask a few at a time.

"Because _I_ thought I could keep you safe. I homeschooled you, put magical boundaries on the house, bought the finest wards to keep you safe. And all of that failed," my mom looks sad, like she failed me.

"Now you know what we have to do, Gianna. It's about time we send him to camp," Natasha tells my mom. "I think the quicker, the better."

Before I can reply to ask another couple of questions, my mother answers. "Yes, yes. I'll booked a train on Hermes Express. You two will be leaving tonight."

"Tonight? What if I get attacked again? Isn't staying here the safest option?" I burst. I don't want to face another one of those weird monsters.

"I'll be with you to protect you. That is actually why your mother hired me; I'm supposed to be your guardian," Natasha explains. "And when we get to the camp, you'll be much safer."

"How long is this camp? What will we even do there?" Now that I see that it's inevitable that I'll be going to this camp, I want to know if I'll be bored out of my mind.

Natasha smiles and leans closer to me. "You will have so much fun at this camp, I promise you that you won't want to come home," she whispers in my ear.

I assume she is just saying that to make me feel better, because she knows I don't fare well away from my mom. Since I'm homeschooled, I spend a lot of time with my mom, and I don't like being away from her. I know it sounds weird, but I'm a big baby.

We sit down for dinner and talk about my _situation_. "You'll be there most of the summer, so pack some summer-y stuff," my mom tells me.

"No, I don't think he should pack much. They give you t-shirts and anything else you need," Natasha explains. "When is the train ride?"

"Soon," she says, then turns to me. "You should go pack. Take Natasha's backpack and put everything you need in there."

By the time I leave the house, I'm crying with some sort of magical backpack on my back. I was not expecting my day to go like this.

I part from my mother's shoulder, with tear stains on her dress. She wipes my tears away and looks me in the eyes. "Pietro, you have to be strong. From now on, everything has changed and you need to be strong."

I nod and get in the car. Natasha gets in the driver's side and starts the engine. She pulls out of the driveway while I watch my mom wave. When she is no longer visible, I look to Natasha. "I won't be seeing her for a while, right?"

"Yea. This camp lasts all summer, and since you are homeschooled, you have more freedom to do what you want. Like if you want to stay for the year, it wont be a big hassle," Natasha explains but that is the last thing to reassure me. She is still expecting me to enjoy the camp, which right now, I'm dreading.

"So about all this Greek Gods thing, how does this all work?" I ask while trying to be casual. I still have my doubts, but I just want to hear their explanation.

"Well it will take a while to explain, and that is why we're taking you to this camp," she begins.

While we drive, Natasha talks about the camp, explains how monsters work, and all the other things to talk about on a car ride. The streets are empty, so we make good time to Union Station.

I've been here many times, to visit San Diego and San Francisco, but I've never used a train to go out of the state. I've never even_ been _out of the state.

We pass through the routine security checkpoints and make our way to the gates. Zigzagging through the platforms, I lose track of where we are.

Fifteen minutes of snaking our way through the platforms get me tired. Going up and down stars with my magical backpack starts to take a toll on me; not to mention the late hour. If we had to go for another five minutes, I'd have to ask Natasha to give me a break, but the gate is up ahead.

We get to the correct platform and see the train waiting. No one else is on the platform besides us, and the train seems unoccupied. Something about the train feels special, as if it radiates speed.

"Here we go," Natasha says as she walks onto the train. I follow and the doors close behind us. A crew member from the train escorts us to our cabin.

We have a whole cabin to ourselves, which I've never had before. The hostess asks us if we need any food, and that anything is at our disposal. I look around and marvel at the interior. The cooler on the left gives off a soft hum, and a bed can fold into the back wall.

"I call the bed," I plead, right when I see it. She smiles; I put down my backpack and lay down to relax.

"So, New York. Have you ever been?" I try making small talk with Natasha, but she ignored me. I know a train to San Francisco takes half a day, so I assume this train is going to take a few days. Even with this luxurious cabin and anything at my disposal, my ADHD will come up if I stay in a confined space for too long.

"Don't be worried how long it'll take," Natasha says, reading my mind. She looks up at me and smiles. "This isn't an ordinary train, this'll take us to New York City in just under 12 hours."

"12 hours?" I ask in shock. "How did my mom get ahold of this Hermes train?"

"Your mother is very resourceful. She has connections and money. Great combo." Natasha leans back in her chair and stretches.

"Ok, so if there _are _gods, who is my dad? And where are all the monsters? All the giants, vampires, and the Fate-?" I ask but then get cut off.

"Stop! Do not use those names! They attract monsters, and that's the last thing we need," she notices me wanting to ask more questions, so she pulls out something from her belt. "Here, look at this," she pulls out two daggers and in her backpack comes out a full sized bow that glistened in the moonlight.

"Whoa, are you a ninja? What is that metal? How would you get that past security? It looks-" the train starts and cuts me off. We go from zero to 200 miles per hour in a split second. Thank god, or gods that I am sitting down, because if I was standing up, I would have flown backwards. After I steady myself, I keep asking questions. "Who are you? Are you a half-blood? Are we going to be attacked? Where-"

"Shush up if you want some answers. We are safe here, on this train, so don't worry about getting attacked," she tries to suppress a smile. I realize I must sound silly, asking so many questions, so I slow down. "I am a Hunter of Artemis. I have sworn to her and made an oath to never fall in love, and in turn, I never age. Your mother hired me to protect you two from monsters, because she knew you would attract them."

"Do I attract them by my smell? Is that what you are talking about earlier? Should I shower more?" Still, more questions are on the verge of spilling out, but I stop myself. _Be reasonable_, I think.

"No, showering has nothing to do with your scent," she smiles again.

"So, is this camp we are going to for half-bloods? Do we like, train in sword fighting and practice killing monsters?" I ask with a little excitement. My life is so bland, and if this camp is what I think it is, life would get a lot more interesting.

"Yes, of course. It is hard work, but it is crucial for your survival. Now sleep, by morning, we will be in New York."

I fall into a fitful sleep, ecstatic and scared about what the next day would bring. My dreams are a jumbled mess.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ok, wake up, hero," Natasha gently shakes me out of my slumber. I rub my eyes, thinking everything about Greek Gods has been a dream. Thankfully, we are still in the train, and New York is up ahead. "The last part of our journey is the trickiest, and most dangerous. We must go from New York City to Long Island. Now that you know about your past, your scent is much stronger, and monsters will be more attracted to you."

"Oh good, I've always wanted to be attractive," I joke while posing. Natasha smiles again and shakes her head.

We step off the train just after dawn, making the train ride about ten hours, a ride that should have been four days. I stretch my legs, happy to stand up. She hands me her knife and tells me to keep it hidden.

"Don't be afraid to use it against any monster. It will send them to Tartarus and blow up in a cloud of yellow dust," she warns.

I search my mind for what Tartarus is and all I remember is that Tartarus is in the underworld. We cut through the crowd as fast as we can, trying to find a taxi. The car ride shouldn't be too long, having heard how crazily New Yorkers drive. We are finally outside, and Natasha looks much more relieved. She signals to a taxi like a pro, and we climb inside.

She says something to the driver and he takes off.

"Ma'am that's going to cost you-" he is cut off by the wad of cash that is stuck through the small separation between the rows of seats.

"Make it quick," Natasha demands.

I smile at the driver's sudden change in mood and try to relax, but my mind is still racing. _Are there any half-brothers or sisters at my camp? Do gods have many children? Who is my dad? I hope he is cool. _I is about to ask her all these questions, but realize the driver would think we were insane.

So I ask Natasha my questions quietly. "You say you are _immortal_." I say in awe.

"Yes, in exchange for immortality, we must devote our lives to Artemis and never fall in love. However, we can die in battle."

"Oh ok, so you never age?"

"Exactly," she leaned in and whispered straight into my ear, "I'm 76, but I became immortal when I was 23."

I gasp. I knew she was young, but her technically being 76, shocks me.

Most of the car ride is uneventful, a few close calls where we almost hit other cars and cause a huge pile-up, but nothing major.

"Ma'am, this is as far as I can take you. I'm outta gas," he seems confused, because his tank was full when we entered.

"Ok, thanks. I appreciate it," Natasha says as we quickly hop out of the car. She groans and says, "Another mile or so."

"What are you worried about? A mile isn't that far," I say, hoping nothing is wrong.

"Yes, but now we are at our most vulnerable. Outside, and near camp. The camp is another beacon for monsters, but camp has protective borders, and we don't," she curses. It doesn't sound English, but I understand it perfectly. "This is how it always ends up, the protector and demigod are going to be chased by monsters and barely stumble into Camp Half-blood."

I can barely hear her muttering, but I know it's bad. "So, lets be quick," I say, starting to speed up. I get ahead of her and when I'm 20 paces ahead of her, she looks up from the ground and jogs to catch up to me. "Don't leave my sight," she scolds.

"So what is this made out of?" I ask, curious, because I've never seen such an orange metal.

"Celestial Bronze. It is the gods' metal. Hephaestus uses it to build just about everything. And, it is great for killing monsters."

"Great. So I just close my eyes and stab?" I say jokingly, but I know this is life and death. "Will a drakon, or sphinx or Minotaur atta-"

"Shut up! Saying those names attracts monsters. Remember what I said on the train?" My face drains, realizing how bad it would have been if _any_ of those monsters show up.

We round a corner and a car comes whizzing by, almost impaling Natasha. We become on high alert.

The next few minutes go on, and I can feel Natasha's nervousness. I stay next to her and hope nothing goes wrong.

Just as I think that, we hear a _ssssssss_-ing off in the hills to our right. I would shake it off as a normal snake, but the hissing is so loud, it shakes the ground. I raise my dagger in defense and Natasha notches an arrow to her bow.

"We need cover, from whatever that thing is," she instructs through gritted teeth. I scan the area and conclude we have no cover from the monster.

Suddenly, two snakes' head appear through the shrubs. Instantly, an arrow whizzes past me and into the snake on the left's eye. It rears up and spits venom in my direction. Adrenaline kicks in and I rush backwards, away from the snake. Natasha's arrow zips by and impales itself into the snake closest to me.

"Get behind me!" she yells urgently.

The snakes are mad, even though one snake is unscathed. They come out from under the bushes and the weirdest thing happens. Their bodies _join_. Now there is one, huge green snake that starts at us that looks like a horseshoe. Instead of a tail, a head replaces it. I gag at the sight and raise my dagger reflexively.

"Damn, an _amphisbaena_" she curses. "How do you kill it, how?" She starts mumbling to herself, and I hope she is thinking about a way to kill it.

"What is that? Is it me or does it have a head at each end of its body?" My voice gets high when I am nervous. So far, the snakes are at a standstill, analyzing whom to attack first.

"I remember!" she yells triumphantly. "Just stab it in each of its mouths. Incredibly hard to do, but we can do it." Natasha exclaims, knowing I can hear her. She shoots the monster again. It hisses.

Apparently, it chooses me as its first lunch, and it starts slithering in my direction. I have barely any time to react, but just manage to get away from the first shots of venom. Wherever it lands, the ground sizzles and the grass dies around it. Not something I want to be hit with.

"What if I cut it in half?" I yell as I back away even more. It is ten yards from the road; I need to do something quick.

"No! It will just make another snake. They regrow their heads, like a hydra."

_Great._ I think. _She has the bow, but I have to get up close to stab it._ Another arrow whips by and hurls itself into the snake's forehead.

"When I tell you, lunge and stab it in its mouth. On three!" Natasha orders.

"Ok, I'm as ready as I'll ever be," I mutter.

I am shaking so badly now, scared_. Why is she making me do this? I have never killed anything large like this before! And I could _die.

"Are you sure?" I ask, not wanting to put my life at risk. "I don't want to die!" It comes out as a strangled cry, which is a reflection of what I am feeling. I can just imagine it, on my way to camp, yet dying so close to it.

The snake slithers closer and I dive out of the way again. I doubt I can do this for much longer, because only one drop of its venom could kill me.

"One!" I heard her yell off to my left. I get into a position that is out of its range, but if I leaped forward, maybe I could hit it in its mouth.

"Two" Suddenly, the snakes jab forward, spitting their venom everywhere, right at me. I scramble backwards, but a clump of spit lands on my shoe. I look down and see it sizzling through my grey converse.

"Three!" I barely register her command in my head, and after a split second, I realize I have to stab the damned snake in its mouth. I stumble, and as I am stumbling, I see a pointy rock to my left. _If only I could pick it up and throw it._ Wishful thinking, the rock is two paces away, not within reach.

Any moment, an arrow is going to stick itself into one of the snake's mouths, and I needed to stab it in the other. I look over to Natasha and noticed the bow is taut and she is concentrating on getting the right shot. Any second, the snake is going to be on top of me. I loose control of my muscles and the knife, my only protection, clatters out of my hand. I look one last time at the sharp rock, and turn back to Natasha. She still hasn't seen me; she is patiently waiting for the right shot.

Things seem to go into slow motion. Natasha fires the arrow first. Then I feel like I am lifting something a hundred pounds too heavy for me. The snake rears up and right as both of the snakes are at their highest, a black blur comes out of nowhere and skewers the mouth of the snake on the left. An instant later, Natasha's arrow finds its mark.

The snake silently falls to the ground, writhing until it dissolves into a pile of yellow dust. In the pile of its remains, a short dagger glints in the sunlight. I pick it up, and see that the blade is actually the snake's large tooth. It is a little larger than the size of my biggest finger. Natasha jogs up and peers over my shoulder.

"Wow, a spoil of war," she says and looks at the beauty of the dagger. My adrenaline rush wares off and pain sears through my left leg.

I moan. "Does this camp have some magical healers?" I asked while pointing to my shoe.

Natasha looks down and gasps. "Yes! We have to get you there now! Take off your shoe," she orders.

I waver and plop down on the ground. I fumble to take off my shoe. I knew it wouldn't look pretty, but even with my low expectations, it looks very bad.

"Come on, let me carry you there. It won't take long," she picks me up with ease. I stay as limp as a rag doll, trying not to pass out. She starts jogging up the hill, toward this gigantic pine tree on the next hill.

I think I pass out for a minute because I wake up and we are under the pine tree. There is something bright and golden in its branches, but Natasha does not stop her jogging.

"We have an injured!" she yells to the field. Except it isn't a field anymore; there are over 20 cabins, a stadium, a huge, blue house and a volleyball court. The volleyball court seems out of place in the camp setting. However, I can't take in a lot of the scene because I am half-conscious.

Immediately, a girl comes from the court and leads Natasha to the infirmary. At least, that is where I am hoping to go. My left foot becomes unbearable and I black out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

When I wake up, I am staring at a low roof. I try to sit up, but my left foot is bandaged up. Light streams through a window above me. After a while of shuffling around in the bed, I get into a sitting position. I scan the room. It has a small table on the left with some jelly cubes like the one my mom gave me, and my bone knife. My magical backpack sits in one corner of the room.

I look down to my foot and see it lightly bandaged. I wiggle my toes and relief floods me. I look back to the doorway and hear some movement.

"Anyone there?" I ask cautiously. I don't want another monster to attack me in this weird place. I hear someone out in the hall, and a head pops in.

"Hey, how you doing?" Natasha questions. She has a worried expression, but tries to hide it with a smile. "You've been out a few hours."

That gets my attention. "A few hours?" I repeat, uncertain.

"Yes, and you have a couple of close calls. That venom is powerful. It took our best healers to get you back into shape."

"Is there any permanent damage?" I did not want to know her response, so I brace myself.

"Thankfully, no," she is cut off by someone else I cannot see. They exchange some whispers. "Pietro, you should come outside." There is something in her voice implying to be quick.

"Okay," I get out of bed and put some weight on my bandaged foot. I put all my weight on it and only feel mild pain. Once I've checked how my foot is, I change out of my hospital gown. On top of my luggage is an orange t-shirt with the words "Camp Half-Blood" sewn on it. I slipped on my clean shorts and decided to put on the orange shirt. It fits quite well.

Once I'm outside, I see a horse, which is something I'm not expecting. But when it turns, I get a better look at it and it has a torso of a man instead of a head. _That_ is something I'm not expecting. But then I remember these creatures are common in Greek mythology. I guess my mouth is hanging open, because he looks at me and smile, "First time seeing a centaur? Not the worst reaction," he chuckles to himself.

My mom's voice nags me about my manners, so instinctively, I go down the two porch steps and toward him. I stick out my hand, and say, "Hi, I'm Pietro. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Sorry that I stared. It _is_ the first time I've seen a centaur."

He must have not expected my actions, because he just bursts out laughing. After he gets his composure, he looks at me and replies, "I am sorry for my outburst, I did not expect such manners. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Chiron." He lowers his front legs so he can shake my hand. Then, he turned to face the blue building and calls out, "Mr. D, come out and greet our new demi-god!"

I can make out the silhouette of a man at the doorway, and when he walks into the daylight, I see that he's wearing a Hawaiian shirt with leopard-print shorts. "Hello, child," he greeted. He doesn't seem to be so exited for a new camper, but I shrugged it off.

"Hello, Mr. D, nice to meet you," I stick out my hand, similar to how I greeted Chiron.

Chiron canters next to me and waits for Mr. D to shake my hand. They exchange a look, and finally, he reluctantly shakes my hand.

"So, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, this is your home for the summer, and yea. Anything else, Chiron? He asks, quite bored.

"Yes, get someone to give him a tour. You know what to do," Chiron replies, exasperated. They must have have this discussion any time a new camper comes.

Mr. D looks around and sees someone playing volleyball. "May! Come and show this new guy around," once he gets her attention, he adds, "Please." She comes jogging over and her wavy, red hair streams behind her. Her smile flashes in the sunlight and I give her a grin.

"Hi," she say, a little winded. "I'm May."

"Hey, I'm Pietro," I manage to respond. She hooked my arm with hers and leads me away from Chiron and Mr. D. She walks slowly, so I can limp and keep up.

She keeps talking about how fun camp is, and I absorb everything she says. "Where I came from, are the volleyball courts. We passed the Arts and Crafts room." It is an open Greek structure, like the Parthenon, but ten times smaller. I got a peek inside, and I see many different campers and _satyrs_ inside making various statues.

"Uh, are those satyrs? Are they friendly?" I try to remember what they are. They look like a cross between a goat and a human. They have goat legs, and at their bellybutton, the change into a human torso and head.

"Yes, and of course they are friendly, one of my best friends is a satyr. They help us grow our strawberries," she scoffs.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who is your godly parent?" I hope I worded that phrase correctly, and it isn't an offensive thing to ask.

"Why would that be rude?" She gives me a playful nudge. She starts concentrating on the grass next to my feet and in a matter of seconds, my bandaged foot is wrapped in tall grass. I smile and try to pull away, but the grass holds tight.

"Uh, do you mind letting me out?" I request.

"You are lucky I didn't grow thorns in those," she says. She snaps and the grass shriveled up and died. "Does that answer your question?"

"Demeter," I replied instantly. "That is _so_ cool."

"You think so?" she blushes. After a moment, we head for the cabins. "For now, you will stay with the Hermes campers. They take all the unclaimed demigods. Hopefully, tonight at the campfire you will be claimed."

We walk around a little more, visiting some small structures and playing fields.

May leads me to what looks like the center of the cam. There's a square of cabins, all different from each other. There's a big campfire in the center. "Here are the cabins. Each cabin is unique, and stands for a certain god or goddess. I'm right over there," she pointed to a cabin that is light brown and has vines growing on it. "We also have the children of Persephone living with us."

"Wow, this is all so cool. How many campers are there total?" I questioned. I hoped there are many campers, so I could make friends. I know that sounds pathetic, but back at home, I have a grand total of zero friends.

"About 150 kids. Most of them are from the Ares, Athena, Hermes, and Apollo cabin though. Each of those four cabins have at least 20 kids in there," she replied. We passed many campers, and all of them have identical, orange t-shirts. None of them seem out of place, sad or bored. This place seems too good to be true.

We walked by the showers and bathrooms. She commented on it always being clean. We stopped at the mess hall and she instructed me to go here once dinner have started.

"What do you eat? Is it a fixed menu every night?" I got a little nervous because I am a mildly fussy eater, and I did not want to embarrass myself if I complained about the food.

She just laughed. "Dude, you can eat whatever you want. The plates fill themselves. So do the cups."

Her answer felt like music to my ears. I squinted and is able to see a tall structure in the distance. I asked her what it is.

"That is the climbing wall. It is pretty dangerous, only the very skilled can scale it."

"Then why do I see lava flowing down it?"

She have a mischievous smile on. "That's part of the challenge."

I knit my eyebrows together and give her a questioning look. "Isn't that dangerous? What happens if someone gets burned?"

"Then they go to the infirmary, and eat some ambrosia," she see the uncertainty in my eyes. "Don't worry, no one has died in a long time."

We stroll along the edge of a hugely dense forest. I see shadows streak across the trees and feel a chill along my spine.

"These are the Woods. Monsters lurk in the darkness there, and this is where we play Capture the Flag. It's definitely the most dangerous part of camp."

"What's Capture the Flag?" I asked sheepishly. I ask that because I've never heard of it before, and keep in mind that I've never been at a real school or camp before.

"If you haven't played Capture the Flag, you have never had fun," she replies in shock. _Well that helps,_ I think. She realize that explanation wasn't very informative. "it's where two teams of different campers fight each other to get to the other team's flag. Very complicated, and lots of action." She smiles.

"Sounds like fun," I respond. She went on talking about the arena we passed and all its historic value. She stopped me at some sort of armory. We took a quick look inside and see three kids behind a counter. If you forgot about the array of weapons behind them, it could be a normal store.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"Hi," one of the two girls smile at me. Instantly, my mind went on vacation, and I couldn't seem to think coherently. Her beauty is mesmerizing. Her dark hair glints in an invisible light, and her eyes that changed color every time I looked into them are gorgeous.

"Stephanie, stop," May commands. Right when she say that, my thoughts clear.

"What, how did she do that?" I wondered. It still took a lot of thinking to string together a sentence.

"She a pathetic Aphrodite child," she mutters to me. The other girl waved and tells us to come in.

"You must be a new camper. I haven't seen you around," the other girl says. She didn't have the weird effect when she talks, but she did make me tired. Not in the bored way, but like I wanted to curl up and sleep. "I'm a daughter of Hypnos. My name is Monique." She has a nice smile, which makes me tired. My eyes droop a little.

"Pleasure to meet you," I smile back. I look to May and ask, "What are we doing here?"

She gives me a look and says, "I'm just buying some groceries for the kitchen." She has a blank look on her face, so I'm confused.

"Um, what?" I ask. I can't tell if she is making fun of me or not. "I don't think that-"

May and the other three people burst out laughing and that's when I realize they were joking. "We don't even have a kitchen!" I hear Monique wheeze between laughs.

May stops laughing first and quells the others' laughs. "Okay, okay. No need to make him feel bad, it's his first day here." She turns back to me and says, "We're getting you a sword, what else would we be doing here?"

"Oh, sounds cool. Can you show me what you have?"

"Of course, we will have Jonathan set you up with a sword. He is a specialist."

Jonathan comes from behind the counter and ushers me to a padded mat. On the other end, there is a stuffed dummy. It is holding a wooden shield and a sword.

"Hmm, how tall are you?" He asked as he stroked his non-existent beard. That makes me laugh.

"I'm five feet and a couple of inches." He started fishing around the cabinets, as he mumbled to himself.

"Here, try this one," he handed me a generic short sword. Before I even swung it, I knew that it is too light.

"Maybe one that is a little heavier?" I ask. I try to peek around Stephanie and the Hypnos girl to see any swords that look like they might fit me.

"Do you want to try an axe or mace? Or do you want to try a double handed sword?" He asked, trying to get a feel for my taste.

"Let's stick to normal one-handed swords," I wonder how many types of swords there are. I didn't know a lot about swords, but I have never heard a famous hero that used a mace or axe.

"Yes, of course. That's an answer I'm looking for," He pulled out a pike from a shelf and I shake my head.

"I need a sword, not a fishing spear," I joke. He laughed wholeheartedly, and claps me on the back. I assumed that is a good sign.

"You are a funny kid. You're probably a Hermes kid. Here is one order of a one-handed sword," He unsheathed a long, bronze sword that glints in the sunlight. He tossed it to me and I have barely any time to catch it.

"Try it out," he says. Instinct jumped in and a second later, I stepped back to see the dummy's head on the floor and the wooden shield splintered. I gave him a small smile.

"Woa there. Seems like a fit," he say proudly.

"Thanks man," I replied, trying to act cool. I buckle the sheath to its belt.

I wave goodbye to everyone and May led me outside. She took me to another structure. I heard banging as we got closer. Flames flickered against the walls.

Four burley guys and a girl turn toward us while they have their hands in a pool of lava. One of them waved at us to come in and lava droplets fly from his hand.

"Hey," he say in a gruff voice. "No one ever visits us." He sounded genuinely sad.

"Oh shut it, Craig. I'm giving a tour for Pietro, the new kid," she responded.

"Where are we?" I whispered into her ear.

"It's the forge, and all the people you see here are the children of Hephaestus," I is already sweating, and I could see she is too. "We just wanted to drop by, keep doing what you are doing," she say in a louder voice. Craig already turned back to his project. He grunted in reply.

We walked outside and right ahead of us is a huge farm of strawberries. I see tens of people walking around the rows and holding something up to their lips. After a few seconds, the sweet smell of fresh strawberries overwhelmed my senses. I halted and just took in the smell. May didn't notice me stop, and ran into me, waking me up from my trance. Surprise lighted up her face and she blushed.

"Sorry about that," she smile sheepishly. We zig-zag through the strawberry fields and get to another building. This time, I hear "Over there are the Pegasus stables. We have classes for that, if you want to learn how to ride." We turned back around and headed for the large, blue house.

After walking by it, she tells me that's the Big House, where Chiron and Mr. D live. They also have war councils and other meetings there.

"I have to go get my cabin ready for dinner. You still have time to wander if you want, so go ahead and explore; but don't go to the forest, monsters are there," May warns.

I thank her and she walks off. We didn't stop very long to go by all the cabins on the tour, so I wanted to check them out, one by one. Secretly, I am hoping to feel drawn to one of them, so I could find out who my dad is. The cabins formed a rough rectangle. There are two large cabins on one side, the opposite side have around ten small cabins that all vary in looks. One have torches strewn around the top that are a multitude of colors. On the other side of the row is a larger cabin with black walls and intricate pillars. Strewn around it are bones. It gave an ominous feeling.

The other two sides are an assortment of radically different groups of cabins. One seemed to be painted with blood, another looked like it could come from any princess's imagination. I see on the far corner is the Demeter cabin, where May stayed.

After a while of walking around, I heard the dinner horn go off. I forgot where the mess hall is, but after a minute, I realize I should just follow the group of people that are all going in the same direction. I kept walking and find Chiron. I jog up to him and asked, "Where do I sit?"

"You sit with the Hermes cabin until you are claimed. Go with them, they are looking for you," he instructed.

"Pietro! There you are, we have been looking for you," some kid came up to me and say dramatically. He winked, and went on in a whisper, "It's ok, all kids get lost on their first day."

"Sorry, I didn't know ho to go to," I say guiltily. "What's your name? How do you know mine?"

"I'm Jeremy," he gave me a grin. "I get info in ways you would never realize." That statement gave me the chills. "Oh, and when you burn an offering, pray to your godly parent, even if you don't know who they are." Before I could protest, Chiron stamped his hoof on the marble floor and instantly, the room became quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, on our fourth day into our summer session, we have our first new arrival!" Everyone cheered. I felt heat rising to my face and try to smile. I noticed that some clusters of people have almost thirty kids per table, but some have one or two per table. I see May beaming at me from the Demeter table. "Now let the feasting begin!"

Everyone settled down and plates came whizzing by from nowhere. Almost as quick as they came, food appeared on them, from pizza to roast beef to turkey burgers. _May is right,_ I think, getting exited at the idea of choosing what I could eat for the next couple of months. A plate stopped at my spot and the first food I think of is a chili-cheese hot dog. I remembered my manners, and wait to see if anyone starts eating. No one started eating, but one table at a time went up to the hearth at one corner of the room and scraped off a little bit of their meal.

"Ok, Hermes' Cabin, roll out," Jeremy instructed. Some people snickered in the back. I is put right behind Jeremy. We slowly walk up to the fire. Getting closer, I realize the flames literally licked hungrily at the food. The food seemed to fuel the fire. Jason murmured something under his breath, scraped off some of his salad and stepped away. I scooped up some chili on my hot dog and closed my eyes. _Dad, whoever you are, please claim me soon, and let me be accepted here_, I pray.

I opened my eyes and scooted back to the Hermes table. At first, just Jeremy and I are sitting down, but one by one, the Hermes campers filed back into their seats. I see May go up to give her mom an offering, and soon following her are all her brothers and sisters.

_Brothers and sister? _I realize in my head. _I could have brothers and sisters in this room and I do not even know it_.

With that think in mind, I started eating with the rest of the kids. I quickly barrel through the chilidog, and ask in my mind for a new one. Many people seemed to be getting seconds, so I assumed I could too. Another chilidog appeared on my plate and Sprite filled my glass before I lifted it to my mouth._ If we get to choose the food we eat every night, I'm going to turn fat,_ I joked in my mind.

Dinner ended too soon, but after dinner every night is a camp song. Everything at this camp is so different from my life, I did not know what to expect for the campfire. Jeremy led us out of the Dining Hall and to the amphitheater. Mr. D, or Dionysus, is sitting down near the fire, tending to it and munching on a marshmallow. A jumbo-sized bag of marshmallows sat on his left, with boxes upon boxes of graham crackers and chocolate sprawled around him.

"Do we always have s'mores?" I whispered to Jeremy excitedly.

"Just about every night, but on Fridays, we play capture-the-flag," he replied nonchalantly. I remember what May told me about capture-the-flag. It sounded dangerous, yet exiting. This whole camp sounds dangerous yet exciting. We all sit around Mr. D and the fire in a specific manner. The other cabins filed in behind and around us. Some people muttered about the Hermes cabin always being in the front.

After everyone sat down, Mr. D passed out the marshmallows and crackers. Every marshmallow is cooked perfectly. The Apollo campers started tuning their lyres and violins. After a minute, their lead counselor started bellowing a song about the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. The strings followed behind him with a lively melody. I watch the sparks of the fire fly into the night sky and disappear.

I started munching on my s'more, and right when I finished, people started staring at me and gasping. _Is I not supposed to eat my s'more? Everyone else ate his or hers,_ I wondered, afraid I offended someone. Now, everyone is looking at me and the fire died down, as if reacting to everyone's confusion. I realize people aren't looking at me, but _above_ me. I looked up, and a shadowy, dark, silhouette looms above me. It looked like a cross under a circle. No one seemed to know what this means. I is confused, too; I didn't know what to make of this thing over my head.

It hit me. I is being claimed. Natasha told me about what would happen, but I wasn't prepared to have that happen in public. She said that above the camper being claimed is their parent's symbol. I know it all too well; it is my favorite symbol when Natasha taught me about the gods.

I am a son of Hades.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"Hear, hear!" Chiron appears next to Mr. D and stomps his foot to get everyone's attention. He stamps his foot a few more times, and order is restored. "Everyone, I present you Pietro, son of Hades." An eerie silence follows. They must not get many of Hades' kids, because everyone is nervous, even May seems a little shaken.

I start to get a little angry. No one say anything, or cheered. I didn't choose to be so son of a hated guy. I learned in the limited Greek Mythology that I know that sons of Hades were shunned. Why does everyone hate him anyways? I realize the ground around me starts shriveling and drying up. _What is happening to me?_ I wonder. Once I stopped being angry, the circle of death stopped growing. I looked up and smile sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that. I think May can fix that." I smile at that one. Some people snicker. At least _I_ think my joke is funny.

Chiron canters over to me and pats me on the back. "Our first claiming this session! We must put it in our records," he pulls out a pen and notepad and mumbles to himself, "Tuesday, June fourth, first claiming, Pietro, son of Hades."

So many emotions churn through my mind. I feel confused, relived, angry and so many more feelings. Questions want to speed out of my mouth, but I stop them. I have no one to ask. Chiron whispers something to me about moving my stuff to the Hades cabin. The claiming is not what I is expecting at all. I hoped I was going to be a son of Apollo, or Zeus. Someone powerful and skilled. I didn't know a lot about the children of Hades, because there aren't many stories of famous children of Hades. But I did know, by the way everyone acted, it wouldn't be easy to fit in.

We stop by the Big House and got my sword, bone dagger, and luggage. I hear some more camp songs, but not as wholeheartedly. Chiron leads me around all the houses to one corner of the square. It's next to the two large cabins of Hera and Zeus. Zeus is on the left of my cabin, and Poseidon is on the right. My cabin is sort of squeezed in between the two. It is the ominous cabin with the dark pillars and intricate design. I mumble my thanks to Chiron and step around the bones to get inside. I pass under a skull right above the doorway. _This is the house that gave me a weird feeling._

Inside is nothing fancy, three beds lined up on one side, with dark purple sheets. In one corner is a statue of Cerberus, the three-headed dog from the Underworld. The other walls are painted with ghosts, skeletons and other death-related pictures. The only thing that warmed the room up a little are the torches that burned with a green flame. I checked and see that the sheets are freshly washed and there have been no dust accumulation on the bedside table. _At least I can have some privacy from time to time,_ I smile. _This isn't that bad. I'll show everyone what a child of Hades can do._

I put out the weird green fire and slumped into bed. Today have been a very long day, and I wanted a good night's sleep. Right after I took off my shoes, I crashed and slept like a rock.

I am woken up by the morning conch. A note is slipped under my door that tells me to go to the Big House to talk to Chiron. I hope I's not in trouble, but what else could he want to talk to me about. Then all the memories of last night flooded into my mind. _I'm definitely in trouble_, I think bitterly. I lace up my shoes and put on my orange camp t-shirt. As I walk to the Big House, I see everyone being lined up in front of his or her cabins, getting ready for the day. I waved to May when I passed the Demeter kids. They all have similar noses, and green eyes. May is the only one with flaming red hair. Everyone else is dirty blonde or darker.

I meet Chiron at the Big House and he tells me to sit down. "I'm sorry about the campers' reaction to your claiming. Hades' children are not the most popular here. Our last Hades kid wasn't accepted either. However, I will do my very best to make you comfortable. I won't go easy on you in Ancient Greek class or Archery, but I will be looking out for you."

"What do you-" my question spilled out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Hush, child. Let me inform you of your duties as Head Counselor. By default, you are promoted, since you have no cabin-mates. You are in charge of keeping the cabin clean and ordered. Every week, we have a routine check of the cabins. If your cleanliness is below average, you will get the more grueling chores," he goes on and on about chores, choosing the classes I will take every day, if I have another cabin-mate, what I would do. The most interesting part of his lecture is the amount of classes I could take.

_Archery sounds exiting. But, I also want to learn how to canoe,_ I keep contemplating my schedule as he talks. I ask a quick question wondering if the schedules can change each day.

"Yes, every day, you choose your activities. However, some classes are required. For instance, you must take either archery or swordsmanship. It is, of course to ensure your safety outside of camp." After a couple more points, he dismisses me to start my day. As I am leaving, he calls, "Tomorrow, I've arranged a surprise for you." His smile indicates he does not intend to tell me.

The sun blares into my eyes the moment I step outside. I walk around, contemplating what class I should do first. The list Chiron gave me tells me I have plenty of choices. I see May off in the distance, playing volleyball with her cabin. I finally chose to take the class in Greek Mythology, because since this is all real, I should learn about my past. The class is outside, on some benches that helped my ADHD. First, we recite the 12 Olympians, the minor gods, and the 12 titans. I barely stumble through the 12 titans. Natasha never taught me any titan names.

After reciting the titans, we learn about all the famous mortal demigods. I'm not talking about Hercules, or Odysseus, I'm talking about Albert Einstein, son of Athena, the Wright brothers, all sons of Zeus. That is the most fascinating thing I learned at Greek Mythology.

I move onto Blacksmith class, but that is a complete waste of time. Three attempts of making a sword convince me that I am not meant to be a blacksmith. I take a break and wander through the strawberry fields, plucking strawberries for lunch. After my lunch, I see Chiron conducting archery class with some satyrs and Apollo campers. I walked up to him and ask to join. He points to a smaller group of younger satyrs and other campers. I realize that Chiron conducts the upper level archery class, and some advanced Apollo kids are teaching the younger, less experienced campers that want to try out archery. Just like me.

One camper peels off from the crowd and I recognize him as Jonathan, the kid from the armory. He see the sword buckled to my belt and smile. "I guess I'm just the guy who has to fit you with any weapon you want."

I laugh, because I just did realize that he is going to find me a bow that fits me. He goes through his routine questions. Most of my answers do not help because I have no clue how many pounds I can lift, how good my eyesight is, and so on. He gives me a basic longbow, and he realize I'm too short to fully use it. He then gives me a compact bow, which is smaller and more difficult to draw back.

He gives me an arrow and tells me to shoot the haystack with a bull's eye on it. I try pulling the bow back as far as it can, but I can barely pull it beyond half its full drawback. Before I let go, I try aiming, but I can't hold the bowstring back anymore, and the arrow whizzed to the left of the target. It almost impales a satyr that's walking by.

Jonathan quickly intervenes, taking the bow away from me before I do more harm. Even though I almost shot an arrow through someone, he smiles, "I think we have a match."

I get confused, because my shot is horribly off target. However, he did find me a sword, so I trust him in weapons. If he thinks this bow is a fit, then it is. I mentally add this bow to my arsenal of weapons. _If_ I keep trying out archery.

"Dude, you gotta work up your upper body muscles to fire a bow," he says. "And learn to be quick about aiming. I'll teach you how to do all that, but first, 20 push-ups!" He practically barks out the last part, even though I am right next to him. I'm frozen in place for a second, because his request shocks me. I'm not the most athletic person, and if someone tells me to do push ups, I'll laugh and shrug it off. However, at this moment, I'm more scared that confused.

I drop to the ground, and just about everyone started staring at the commotion. Every successful time I push myself off the ground, I am one step closer to the 20 push-up goal. At 16, I wavered and my arms gave out. They go limp and I thud against the ground. "Better than I expected," Jonathan says, slightly impressed. I looked up to his form and smile.

"Now what, five more sets of push-ups?" I joke.

"Yep, and once you have enough strength to shoot a bow, come back," he states, stoic. I look around, trying to see if he is kidding, but no one is paying attention to us. Once I realize he isn't joking, I say a meek goodbye and wander off, hoping I can find something I'm good at.


	8. Chapter 8

**Before I begin Chapter 8, I want to say thank you for viewing all the to now, it means a lot to me. I realized before uploading this that Chapter 7, and all the other chapters before it have some past tense, present tense, issues. Sorry for that and there were other mistakes that I hopefully fixed.**

Chapter 8:

I hear a lot of noise and yelling at the arena, so I trot there. My sword felt heavy against my belt, and my arms like jell-o. Before I get to the arena, I make a mental note to start doing push-ups and sit-ups back at my cabin. Right when I walk in, I notice there is a full-fledged battle going on between the boys and girls of the Ares cabin. They are hacking at each other, and lots seemed to be wounded. I skirt around them and go to the rows of dummies, like the ones at the armory. I unsheathe my sword, and stop. _I have no idea how to use this thing,_ I realize in my mind. The sword-fighting class was dismissed when the Ares cabin started fighting, so just about everyone left. However, I do see a duo of girls practicing, and their blows are so fast, I can't see their blades. I walk up to them, mesmerized. I'm careful to stay out of the fight in the middle of the arena. The girls seem unfazed by the brawl, as if it happened every day, which it might. I finally am within hearing distance of their pants. They stop when I arrive.

"Hi," I manage to say.

"Hey, you are the new kid, right? Hades?" the girl on the left says. I looked into both their eyes and see they are identical, a mixture of blue and green.

"Yea, kind of scary," I respond. "I wanted to learn how to fight, but the class is dismissed. I'm wondering if you could teach me a few things." I notice how awkward I am, both physically an verbally.

I feel sheepish, going to two random girls and asking for training. However, they are really nice to me and let me join their practice session. Their names are Jenny and Nicole. Nicole's hair is a couple of inches longer than Jenny, so that's how I distinguished them. They start with the basics, how to parry, slash and jab. They didn't emphasize jabbing, which I just think is just not their style, and focus more on tactical slashing. Jessie would drill me in slashing, take a break, them Nicole would teach me defensive tactics. I am clumsy, but they are great teachers. One break, while we are talking, I ask them if they are twins.

"Yea, but I'm the older one," Jenny say, before Nicole can answer. "We're the daughters of Poseidon. Our mom is a real-estate broker in Florida. It's very difficult getting here, because two Big Three kids in one area outside Camp is very dangerous." They exchange looks, and I know not to press them with questions.

"I guess that makes us cousins," I joke. They laugh, but then Jenny unsheathes her sword and holds me at sword point. I can feel the cold blade against my neck.

"That doesn't mean I'm going easy on you," she spits menacingly. I'm so surprised by her sudden violence, that I assume she's joking.

"Whoa, water you doing?" I string together the first pun I could think of, and smile.

She bursts out laughing and drops her sword. "Wow, most people almost poop their pants when I do that. That is hilarious!" I see Nicole smiling next to me.

I lean into Nicole's ear and whisper, "Does she always do this to her acquaintances?"

"Yea, most people. That's why it's usually just us two together," it is my turn to laugh. "While we were getting here, we had an incident and Jenny has had trust issues ever since."

After that, we go back to drilling until the sun is low in the sky. We stop half an hour before the dinner bell, to wash up in the showers.

I wash and head toward the dining hall, with everyone else. Dinner goes by very differently, because I have to sit on the Hades table, with no one to talk to. I smile at May when she walks by, and thanked Nicole and Jenny at the campfire. The s'mores are impeccable, yet again. I'm so sleepy by the end of the campfire, when I get back to my cabin, I don't even take off my shoes before I fall into my bed's arms.

"Wake up! Come on, lazy!" I hear as I groggily open my eyes. This guy is towering above me, with a pillow readied to strike.

"Woa there, no need for that," I reply, totally alert. I grasp for the bone dagger by my bed and right when I have a grip on it, the guy knocks it out of my hand.

"No need for that either. Get up, and be outside in five minutes," he calls from the doorway. I see him leave and wonder if I should just fall back asleep, but I decide against it. I wanted to find out who this guy is that woke me up at this ungodly hour. Since I am still fully dressed, I just have to tie my shoes and go outside. Before I go outside, I look out the window toward the sunrise and I guess it is just after five in the morning. _I'm totally going to pummel this guy_, I think, then laughed because I realize I barely knew how to swing a sword.

I step outside with my sword swinging next to me and the guy rounds the corner of the cabin with his sword drawn. "Defend yourself," he barks.

I unsheathe my sword as quickly as I can and start circling him. He is over six feet tall, with short disheveled hair. His brown eyes seemed to always analyze. Then I notice his sword. It is a generic sword, but the metal is black as midnight. It is around three feet long, so I have the advantage of reach, but his arm is probably longer. I start thinking of the meager tactics I learned yesterday. He charges and swings at my head, I parry and feints at his legs and try to stab at his torso. He easily knocks my sloppy jab aside. I get frustrated and try using pure force to smash through his defenses. I mixed together some jabs, slashes and feints, all the while keeping my distance from his black sword.

Suddenly, he jumps forward and hit the flat of his blade on my right leg. It instantly goes numb and I stumble away. I'm about to yell for help, thinking this guy is an intruder, then I realize this guy must be the surprise Chiron is talking about. The "surprise" is this bully of a guy. He sheathes his sword and kicks mine away. He sticks his hand out, wanting to help me up.

I huff and get up on my own. "Pleasure to meet you," I mumble to him. "Is there something I can do for you? Since I'm out of bed."

He laughs softly, not wanting to wake anyone up. "You are so different than Dad, that's for sure. Chiron was right."

"Um, what do you mean?" I ask. I assumed this guy is Chiron's surprise, but I don't know why he is here or who he is. "I'm Pietro, and who are you exactly?"

"Nico di Angelo. I'm your brother." And just for effect, he raises his hand and a skeleton pops out of the ground.

My jaw probably dropped a couple of feet. I scramble away from the skeleton and grab my sword. Nico waves his hand, the skeleton literally falls apart, and its bones are sucked back into the ground.

"Can I do that?" I lift my free hand like Nico, but nothing happened. I didn't expect anything to happen, but I still feel disappointed.

"The first time I did that, I passed out from exhaustion. I'll teach you, though," he gives me a sly grin. "You will be training with me from now on."

"So, brother, have you met our dad before?" I ask. I'm hoping he will say good things about our dad.

"Yes, and he isn't the most kind and loving father, but he has to do what he sees fit," his expression darkens a fraction. His answer is short and curt.

"Oh, okay. Cool," I don't really know how to respond to his answer. "Are you Italian? Because your least name mea-"

He cut me off by laughing. "No way, you are Italian, too? I guess the rumor that Dad likes Italian chicks is true."

"So, are there a lot of older campers like you? I don't see many campers above 21 or so. What do you do if you survive that long?" I asked.

"Oh, there are a few of us. We settle down and try to live a normal life," he responds. He looks at me and narrows his eyes. "I didn't come here to just talk, I'm here to train. Come on!" He sprints off to the climbing wall at full speed.

I don't have much choice but to run after him because no one else seems to be awake. The sun is just rising, and I measure that it's a good couple of hours before the morning horn is blown. I dart after him toward the ominous climbing wall. It looks even more frightening without anyone on it and the lava pouring out continuously. He stops at a small shack connected to the wall.

When I looked inside, it is not what I'm expecting. It is a fully decked out with every workout equipment someone could think of. There is a rack of weights in one corner and a treadmill on the other side. Nico sets down his sword and smiles, "Which one first?"

"How about sleep?" I respond, dreading this workout. My arms still ached from the 16 push-ups I did yesterday. I choose a machine I have never seem before, hoping I could get lucky and it could be an easy workout. I'm so wrong.

"Oh good, one of my favorites. You will like this one," he hopped on to the seat and demonstrated. This machine worked out someone's biceps, abs and thighs at the same time. Nico demonstrated for barely a minute and have to stop because he got tired.

"How do you think I'm going to do that if you could barely do it?" I wonder.

"I did it on max weight. You will start off at the bottom," he grunts.

This went on for about half the day, me choosing a machine to exercise on, and him yelling at me like a maniac to try harder. People stream in and out, working out or running on the treadmill. Nico strikes up conversations with almost every one of them. Twice I almost dropped down and could have killed myself while doing bench presses. After a short lunch break, he took me on a fast and embarrassing tour of the camp. We sprinted half the time while he yelled "encouraging" insults to make me run faster. Pretty much everyone at camp either saw or heard us running.

I was not the most fit when I went to camp, but when I try to do something, I don't give up until my final breath. So, I make a great first impression on Nico that first day. However, he didn't make the best impression on me.

At dinner, it is nice to have someone to talk to at the table.

"So, does this make you the new head counselor, since you are almost as popular as a movie star here," I ask between bites of my lasagna.

"Nah, I'm an honorary member. So, I'm not in charge of the cabin, but my opinion is pretty powerful," he explains. "And I won't be back at the cabin after the campfire."

He don't add why, so I have to ask, "What are you going to do? Isn't campfire mandatory?"

"Not for me, I get to do whatever I want, really," he smile.

After that, we eat some more and when we get up for the campfire, Nico goes up to Chiron. They exchange some comments, then Nico walks toward Half-Blood Hill.

The brief walk from the Dining hall to the Amphitheater is enough to make my legs sore again. I'm not looking forward to waking up tomorrow. That night, the camp song is a slower, sadder song about Odysseus and the Trojan War. By the time the song ends, I is half asleep and stumbling back to my cabin. I hope that not every day would be that strenuous with Nico as my mentor.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The next day, Nico is gentler when he wakes up. He shakes me awake, and when I open my eyes, I can tell it's still before dawn. I groan and rub my eyes.

"Wow, you are very quiet last night. I barely heard you," I tell him. "Either I was totally out, or you are as quiet as a mouse."

"I think it is the latter. I Shadow-Traveled," he says matter-of-factly. "Today is capture-the-flag. We didn't have much time to train, but I want to show you some quick disarming and defensive tactics with your sword."

I quickly get dressed and strap on my sword. My legs are screaming at me to sit back down and sleep, but I fight through it. I meet Nico at the arena, excited for today's lesson. I finally get to get to learn some real fighting techniques.

The first portion of the day is devoted to studying the history of Greece and the gods. I'm expecting it all to be just stories and history from thousands of years ago, but some are Greek stories that connected together and stories of heroes from the 20th century alone. I learn about the gods and Titans; about before the Titans and all the Golden Ages. "Sometimes the pen is mightier than the sword. Always arm yourself with information, it is the best weapon," Nico explains. He plans on teaching me history every day.

After lunch, he teaches me a number of disarming maneuvers. At one point, while we are fighting, he says to me, "One day, I'm bringing you to make your own sword. You'll create your new Stygian Iron sword by hand."

I have a shiver of nervous excitement when he tells me that, but then I realize that I've never made anything before.

During our offensive tactics training, campers wander in and out. Some go up to talk to Nico. Once, a guy came jogging up to him and tells him something in a whisper. I didn't dwell on it much, because he keeps me busy with fighting stances and analyzing enemies' weaknesses.

I have my share of bruises and cuts, but with a few small bites of ambrosia, they are all healed. My sore arms and legs, however, won't go away. I fight through it and absorb every tip Nico tells.

The dinner horn bellows from the Dining Hall. I drop my sword and start to unstrap my armor. I turned my back for a second, and feel something sharp on the back of my neck.

"Never, _ever_, turn your back on your enemy," he growls. I store that tip with all the others. I'm about to unstrap my armor, but Nico says, "Keep your armor with you. You'll need it for Capture-the-Flag."

_Capture-the-Flag! I forgot about that, _I think. My aches instantly go away and adrenaline floods me. We walk to the Dining Hall together, and he tells me about the rules of the game. The flags have to be placed in an open area, all magical weapons are allowed, and no intentional harming or killing is allowed. He tells me about the boundaries and the teams.

The teams are announced before dinner. Chiron stamped his foot for attention. "Attention! The winning team last week is the Athena cabin." A cheer goes up from one of the crowded tables. "The current teams for tonight will be: with Athena cabin, there will be the Hermes, Hephaestus, Demeter with Persephone, Hades, Iris, Hypnos, and Hecate cabins. And with the Ares' cabin, there are: Apollo, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Nemesis, Nike, and Hebe."

Cheers went up from all around the room. Nico doesn't seem happy. He leans into my ear and whispers, "This won't be easy. Ares and Apollo cabins are deadly together. They will probably just use brute force to get our flag. A lethal mix of melee and range."

He leads me to the armor table and gives me my chest plate.

"So, what is up with the Persephone and Demeter cabin? Do they share a cabin?" I ask, thinking of how Chiron said _Demeter with Persephone_.

"Yes, the Persephone kids share with the Demeter kids. They have the same peers, really, but just different parents. We don't get a lot of Persephone kids, anyway." He replies while he is strapping on some gauntlets. I buckle up my trusty sword and grab a shield.

"No way," he quickly commands. "You don't know how to use a shield." I glumly set it down. I'm going to complain that everyone else have a shield, but I don't want him to think I'm a whiny kid.

Someone comes up to me and puts their hands on my sword. They mutter something in Greek and look to me. "I blunted your sword. You wont be able to kill anyone with it."

Once I am all strapped into my armor, Nico takes me to a tent with a huge owl sewn onto it. "Stay quiet and listen. We're going into a command center." We step inside to the huge tent and I see there are at least ten people hunched around a table, talking quickly. One girl looks like she's leading it all. She has a high ponytail and startling gray eyes. She seems the same age as Nico. _So some people do survive to become past their teens, _I think.

It seems that all the head councilors are there. May is there, along with some other people that looked like the older girl. She seemed to be in her early thirties, like Nico. "Annabeth!" Nico bursts next to me. He smiles and when she looks up, her face lights up for an instant. As quickly as it came, her face hardens.

"Oh be quiet. Formalities later. I'll be in charge of the defensive line. Craig, I want your cabin to stay on defense and set up some turrets. You'll monitor them. May, take your cabin and help the defenses too. Disguise yourself and grow some poison ivy. You know what to do." May rolls her eyes and shrugs. Next to her is a guy with similar features to her, but has flowers in his hair and his shirt. I assume he is co-leader with May, for the Persephone kids.

"Nico, and you," she pointed at me, "go flank them. Take another person with you and try sneaking behind their lines. Make some confusion. Improvise." She seems totally in control, and relaxed. I envy her, my stomach is doing summersaults. Her gray eyes change shade every moment. Nico takes me outside and elaborates on Annabeth's plan. We are going to try to intercept the other team's flankers and duel them. If we win, we get to have a chance at snatching the flag. He warns me to look out for traps that the Hermes cabin placed around the flag.

Off in the distance, Chiron blows a conch, signifying that the games are beginning in ten minutes. People stream out of the command center. I see Craig and May go off together with the flower guy behind them. Nico starts to follow them and I run to catch up. My armor jingles along with my stride.

We hit the edge of the forest and meet up with the Demeter and Hephaestus cabins. May instantly starts barking orders and Craig follows suit. In less than a minute, people are at the flag and setting up traps, holes in the ground, poison ivy walls. Anything dangerous to stop someone from getting to the flag is installed. The older girl come by a couple of minutes before the game followed by a handful of her cabin mates.

Once the conch rings, the games start. Half of the Hephaestus cabin and Demeter cabin help patrol with the Athena cabin. We stand guard at one side and after a few minutes, Nico signaled to me and May to follow him. The shade of the trees seemed attracted to him, making him difficult to see. I look at May and she smiles. "Reed, you're in charge. Watch out on the left side, get someone to reinforce the bushes there." She looks back at me and whispers, "I finally get to go on the offensive. I'm always stuck on defense."

I remember Nico's plan. We quickly catch up to him and stay quiet. My heart is thumping with anticipation and hear the creek up ahead. We must be near the ocean, too. Nico sees the creek first and signals us to stop. I take a small step forward and see the creek.

"How are we going to cross it?" I ask, nearly above a whisper. The creek looks at least ten feet deep and it's roiling, like choppier than the Pacific. And plus, even if the creek is calm, it would be nearly impossible to cross with our heavy armor weighing us down.

"We don't. We wait," he replies, not taking his eyes off the creek. My arm starts to ache a little from holding the sword up. I'm about to complain when he whispers, "Get ready. Keep your eye on the water." A sharp looking rock whizzes to his free arm and he chucks it right into the creek. A second before it lands, half of the creek's water shoots into the air and three figures are at the crest of the wave. They whirl with the wave and land on the water. My heart jumps into my throat, and I ready my sword, preparing for my first real battle.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"You two get the twins, I'll handle the guy," he barks quickly. May and I get together and assess the situation. The girls have also grouped together and started toward us.

"Protect me, I'll grow vine to grab onto their feet," May orders. I'm going to protest because there are multiple flaws in her plan, such as me not being able to fend off two trained warriors. Also, I assume that small blades of grass isn't going to stop anyone during battle. May starts concentrating on the ground around the attacker's feet, and I know she won't switch plans.

The twins slow down, confused about what May is doing. Their hesitation probably saved us. Weeds, vines and grass sprouted up around one of their feet. Meanwhile, I see Nico battling the other guy farther up the creek. I charge the two girls while they are still tangled. Every moment, the vines grow thicker.

The girl who isn't tangled intercepts me. Our blades meet and my arm wasn't expecting the intensity of the blow. Almost instantly, my arm goes numb. A mental note is stored to anticipate a blade strike. It reminds me of when I hit the monster with the milk gallon. That moment seems years ago.

The second girl is still struggling to get herself out of the vines. The vines start to grow some thorns and I could hear her grunts of pain.

I feint to her head and swing at her legs. She parries it easily and counters. I barely have enough time to block it. I see her eyes sparkle with amusement. _She is just toying with me, _I think angrily.

I start to concentrate more and want to prove that I can beat her. I swing harder and faster than I've ever done in the practices. However, all my strength and speed can't outmatch her skill. She blocks and gives me small bruises on my arms. As a last effort, I fling myself at her, but off to one side. I fully expose my unprotected chest to her, and she falls for the bait. Mid-swing, I moved slightly and bring my blade down toward her legs.A moment before my blade hits the target, the hilt of her sword finds its mark, too. If I hadn't moved slightly, I would have have the wind totally knocked out of me. I get lucky and the sword hits my armor, so it knocks the wind out of me, but not as bad as I expected.

She cries out and crumples to the ground. I also bend over and wheeze, trying to get back some air in my lungs. Before she can recover, I hold her to sword point and declare her a prisoner. I smile and disarm her.

That's when I realize she is Jenny, the Poseidon camper that taught me some sword skills.

"You- I thought you gave yourself up. That is genius," she stares up at me with amazement.

I hear a moan near the creek and look up to see the other girl half wrapped in vines and grass. She makes the mistake of kneeling and planting her hands on the ground. Vines and leaves start shooting up her arms, making twice the progress. She keeps moaning and I can see dozens of streams of blood coming from her legs.

"Stop," I command to May. I go up to the second twin and noticed she has longer hair than the girl I was fighting. _It must be Nicole_, I remember. "Nicole, you are a prisoner." As I say that, the vines started to shrivel and die. I look over at May to give her a thumbs-up and find her slumped against a tree. I first give Nicole a slice of ambrosia and then run up to May.

"Are you okay? You did amazing! Who knew that a daughter of Demeter could take on a warrior of Poseidon?" I congratulate her. I offer her a square of ambrosia and she swats it away.

"What do you mean? Is Demeter inferior to Poseidon? I've show you what children of Demeter can do, and I'll do it again!" She yells at me. She starts concentrating on the ground around me and I have to hop around to not become entangled with roots. I don't know where that anger comes from, but I don't press it.

"No, that is not what I meant! You know that! I meant it is amazing that you never laid a finger on her and you beat her. I'm so jealous," I quickly respond. She stops growing roots and they withered away. "Plus, we gotta get these prisoners to our jail."

I pick up the ambrosia square and offered it to her again. This time, she takes it and we go over to our prisoners. They are together, disarmed and shamed. _Nico! I totally forgot about him! I hope he is okay,_ I think.

I start to walk to the last place I see Nico, which is up the creek. After a second, I heard clanging of swords deeper into the forest and Nico's distinct laughter. May takes the prisoners back to the flag and I go to investigate what happened to Nico. My sword is up and I'm alert for anything.

I find Nico and the other guy are still fighting furiously. It looks like a scene from a movie, two people battling in an open clearing. Nico and the other guy seem to have the time of their lives. They laugh and smile while they batted at each other, which I think is ironic.

Between laughs and taunts, Nico orders me to stop, and go help on defense. It takes me a moment to register his words, because I'm so fascinated by their swordplay. The blows are lightning quick and they seemed to know each of their opponent's next moves. They were a blur of blades.

I wander back, on full alert. Before I get back to the prison to see May, I hear a roar of cheering ahead of me. I quickly pick up my pace and see what's happening. The Ares campers, with their blood-red armor, are hoisting someone up on their shoulders with our owl banner. I realize that while we were battling up the creek, the Ares and Apollo cabins breached our defenses and took our flag. My shoulders slump and I heard Chiron's horn, indicating that the game is over. I run over to our defenses and see it in shambles. All the vine bushes are burnt down and the Hephaestus mechanisms are shredded. Dozens of people looked wounded or dazed. The Athena cabin has set up a makeshift hospital. It's really just an open tent with small stations for ambrosia and some nectar. I learned later that any wounded soldiers during capture-the-flag must be bandaged and treated before being dismissed. However, more severe injuries will be treated by Chiron.

Dejected, I walk into the tent. The older girl, named Annabeth, looks as if she is about to explode. "What is that? You girls looked weak and scared! You call yourselves children of Athena? You are neither wise nor a warrior! Pathetic!" I slowly walk around her to the medical station.

"Anything I can do to help?" I ask, hopefully to the one in charge of the hospital. I don't want to face the wrath of Annabeth, so I want to keep myself busy.

"Yea, sure. Go around the tent and see if anyone needs tending to and to round up all the stragglers," she replies. She have the same stormy gray eyes as all the other Athena kids.

I nod and walk out of tent. I look around and find a Hephaestus girl with a gash in her calf. I escort her to the tent, much to her protest. She complains that she could handle the cut and it wasn't much, but I take her anyways. I send her off to the tent and look for more people. It got really dark during the games and now it is close to pitch black.

Suddenly, I hear a rustling behind some bushes. I instinctively unsheathe my sword and hold it up. "Hello?" I call out. It wasn't the most intelligent thing to say if I was to be attacked, but I don't know what else to do.

"Yea, it's me. Did we win?" Nico appears from my right. I'm so startled, I almost dropped my sword.

"How-, where were you?" I turn to him and point to the bushes where I think he is.

He gives me a dark smile. "You'll see. So, did we win? Percy and I didn't hear the ending conch." He has a couple of cuts on his arm, but he doesn't seem worried.

"No. They just crushed through the defenses. They're in shambles and I never made it in time. That Annabeth is very mad," I tell him.

"Oh, I can imagine. She must be livid," he laughs and I nod. "Well, let's go help the wounded." He walks along, back to the tent.

"So, did you beat the Percy guy? It looked like you are having a lot of fun."

"Nah, we're pretty equal. No one else matches us at sword fighting," he boasts.

"You two looked totally in sync. Do you duel often?" I question, still amazed.

"Yea, we are the only _real_ kids of the Big Three," as he say that, thunder boomed in the distance. I see him smile to the sky. "We trained together for years after we retired."

"Ha, retired? You are like 30," I exclaim.

"No, not retire like in the mortal world. We saved the world a couple of times, so the Fates are kind to us and promised us no more major quests," he tells me.

_Wow, he must have have a busy childhood, _I think.

He keeps talking about his childhood as he walks. He tells me lots of demigods went in the real world at 21 and learned to minimize their scent. They live normal lives. He lost me at the part where some demigods settled down somewhere on the west coast and lived their lives with other demigods.

"I'm just worried when demigods interbreed. It's going to be a mess, kids will have two godly grandparents," he tells me at the end. "Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow. We will work on our powers next. Geokinesis, Shadow Traveling, Necromancy."

The last word gave me a chill down my spine. I excitedly went back to my cabin while Nico wandered back to the hill, where he went last night. I unbuckled my belt. The sword drops on the ground and I walk over to the bed. I tuck myself in and after a while, I fall asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"Wake up, zombie," I hear as I opened my eyes. I smile at the pun. He shakes me once more and I slip out of bed.

"Again? It's Saturday. Can't I have one day off?" I mumble.

"Excuse me? Do you think Odysseus took breaks on the weekends? I think not!" He lectures me. All the noise he is making hurts my head. Finally, I get up and change. I buckle my sword and walk out with him. I can see the sun peeking up above the horizon, and I realize it's later than he usually wakes me up.I mentally thank him for waking me up later.

The first part of the day is conditioning, which made me feel like jelly at the end of it. He makes me lift weights, more weights and then some more weights. We run around the whole camp twice, all the while Nico yelling at me and calling me a skeleton for having no muscles. It gets old after the twelfth time he hollered it at me.

After a small lunch, he shows me how to Shadow Travel. I don't try it, but I go with him to the other side of the room when he did it. The first time I puked, but the next couple, I could barely keep my stomach down. He warns me it is very tiring, but he doesn't seem very fazed after traveling a couple times from one end of the camp to the other, so I ask him why.

"I've have years to practice my endurance for Shadow Traveling. I've passed out many times while training, because I didn't have a real teacher," he replies. "But you, you have the finest teacher ever to teach you all the tricks of being a child of Hades."

We kept drilling. After lunch, he switches to sword fighting. He claims we've done enough for one day of Shadow Traveling, but I think it's really because he's getting tired. I don't argue. He brushes over techniques that I try and I notice Nico's teachings included a lot more jabbing that when Nicole and Jenny taught me. I like it better because it gives me more variety of offensive maneuvers to use.

Before we go to dinner, he sits me down to go over Greek Mythology.

After we burned some food at dinner, I ask Chiron if I could skip the campfire to catch up on sleep. "Nico has been pushing me really hard and we wake up before dawn every day."

Chiron nods and sends me to bed. I'm so grateful for the extra hour of down time. I get back to the cabin and see a fresh calendar pinned up on a wall. The white paper is a huge contrast to the dark walls. I look at it and see today's Saturday, June 8th. The 22nd is circled. I shrug and would ask Nico about it tomorrow. I go to lay down and realize I should contact my mom soon. I hope Natasha has told her that I got here relatively safely. I'll try to remember to ask Nico if and how I could talk to my mother for a few minutes.

Next morning when Nico wakes me up, I feel rejuvenated and excited. I quickly change and barely feel the fatigue in my muscles. I keep up with him at the sprint to the weight room.

Throughout the morning session, I lift weights, and do lots of upper body work-outs. I ask him why it's so important to work out, because I'm the only one in here every day besides a few Ares kids.

"Finally, a good question," he stops and looks at me. "All demigods have powers, as you know, and all of them are powered by a certain part of their body."

He pauses and takes the weights from me. "So, for example, us Hades children's powers come from our arm muscles. So, more arm muscles means more awesome death powers." He looks at me and sees my confused face. "Okay, Poseidon kids have it in their gut and Ares kids have it in their hearts. Remember when you used the rock to kill the snake? Well you felt like lifting an unbearable weight, right?"

I nod and don't say anything. "Well there you have it. The more muscles you have, the more you can use your cool powers." After he tells me that,

After that, we did our routine run around the camp. As usual, he hollers at me to go faster and calling me a zombie because of my form.

I go back to working out, but he leads me outside to the battle area. We go through a few drills and the rest of the day is spent sitting down over a huge book of Greek History. I learn about dozens of monsters and their weaknesses that I know will come in handy in the future.

Nico wakes me up the next day as usual, and we sprint to the climbing wall. I'm almost thankful for the quick run to the fitness room because it's a quick way to wake me up. Once we pass the weight room, I knew that he is going to test me on the climbing wall. After a quick example, where he scales the wall at maximum difficulty like a spider, he turns down the notch. No lava for my first time, just the wall and its tremors every once in a while. After a few failed attempts and some close calls, I finally make it up to the top. At the top, the view is so beautiful with the quiet cabins and sunrise on the bay. I can sit there all day, watching the sun make its way across the sky. The first think that comes into my mind is that I wish my mom is here. When I think of that, it reminds me to ask Nico about contacting her.

"Hey, is there any way I can talk to my mom?" I holler. I try to stay quiet because the day hasn't started for most people, but it's the only way to communicate with him.

"What? Get down here! I can't hear you," he shouts faintly and the wall's tremors drown out his sounds. I quickly hop down, from the climbing wall while Nico belays me. When I reach the bottom, I repeat my question.

"Oh, you can Iris-message her, I'll show you later," he quickly responds while setting the difficulty of the wall a couple notches higher.

Half of the day goes by while I climbed the wall. Many people come to climb on more difficult walls, but I'm just practicing on the easy ones. It makes me feel self-conscious, but there's nothing I can do. There are a couple of Ares campers that stay longer, scaling the hardest wall in under a minute. While I gawk at them, Nico yells at me to stop being useless and to start climbing. After lunch, I retire the harness for my scabbard. We drill and drill over simple maneuvers and tactics that seemed so useless. Every time I complain, he would drill me harder so in the end, I give up complaining.

That night, I realize a reoccurring theme; Nico never sleeps in the room and I never heard him come into the room. At first I assume that I just sleep very deeply, but I sometimes wake up in the night to the howls of the monsters in the woods and don't notice him in the room. I try to remember to ask him about that.

Over the next few days, I get more confident and proficient at the wall. He spends more time reading mythology and sword-fighting but I get the hang of the wall. Nico finally adds some lava three days after I start climbing. I'm nervous at first, but realize that it is just another threat I have to learn to juggle. After a shortened workout session, Nico brings me aside. "You and I have a whole range of powers I cannot teach you in a few weeks. We need _years_ just to get used to all your powers, so you have to be very patient with me," he begins and I know he's talking about learning my powers.

I nod, and reply with a grin, "I know, but I plan on learning them fast."

"That's the spirit," he pats me on the back. "But for now we are going to focus on Shadow-Traveling. Once you get good enough at that, I'll introduce you to your next power. Think of it as a game; when you get good at something, you unlock a new power."

I roll my eyes and see him smiling. "I'm not a seven year old who needs motivation."

The rest of the day is spent studying the history of Hades's children, which is a small, fickle history. It doesn't have much on their powers, until the end. Nico explains to me that he updated it when he was proficient enough to write down the powers.


	12. Chapter 12:

**I'm going to start uploading more regularly. I'll probably upload every 3 days or something because it's too much to upload every day. Enjoy.**

Chapter 12:

By the time I wake up the next day, I feel rejuvenated and full of energy. Nico tells me I slept for over 14 hours. I thank him for letting me sleep.

After breakfast, I'm ready to train. He won't train me in Shadow Traveling until after the Capture-the-Flag, which he tells me is tomorrow. We spend a good portion of the day training with my sword, and since that wasn't enough of a workout, he makes me run the whole of the camp a couple of times.

"Once you beat me at sword fighting, I'll let you choose what to do, but until then, you listen to me," he explains. That just gives me more motivation to beat him.

I slash and hack at him all I want, but his sword is always there to intercept me. He launches his attacks at random and they catch me off guard. Thankfully he explains to me that he's going easy on his attacks.

"See, you need to learn how to defend, and if I always beat you instantly, you'll never learn," he explains, acting wise.

"But why do you alway beat me in the end?" I complain.

"Because I like to win," Nico replies with a sneaky smile.

While we're training, Nico shows me a technique on disarming people. By the end of the training, I could easily disarm an unsuspecting person.

The rest of the day is devoted to whatever I want, which shocked me. "But I didn't beat you in sword fighting. Wasn't that our deal?" I ask him, a little confused.

"Yea, it was, but I'm feeling nice today." I don't question it, so I take a minute to think. I look around the camp and see something that intrigues me.

"Can I try out archery?" I ask.

He's startled at first, then takes a second to think about it. "Okay, but I don't know too much about it. I'll teach you what I know, and if that's not enough, I'll find someone to teach us both." He leads me to the archery range, where I first learned archery. Hopefully, with all my weightlifting, I can handle the bow's pressure.

After I find the bow I used before, Nico teaches me what he knows. "Always keep your bow arm straight, keep your legs spread apart, and _always_ have your correct padding on." He explains to me that without the proper padding, I can get rope burn all along my arm.

Then, there is the aiming part. When I shot my first arrow, back when I was unclaimed, I didn't even have time to look down the arrow at the target. I have to watch out for wind, which thankfully, is at a minimum force. Plus, there is distance and angle of the arrow being shot. I can see why Nico didn't like to learn archery, but I like the challenge of watching out for so many things..

The first couple of times I didn't even let the arrow fly. I just practice aiming and being quick at it. The first time I shoot, the bulls-eye is just five feet away. I don't even pull the arrow back to its full draw.

I shoot from that range a dozen more times until I can draw the arrow back fully and still have time to aim.

My arms get tired, so I take a break. "Us kids of Hades aren't really wired to do archery. We leave that to the Apollo kids. But hey, you seem pretty good at it," Nico praises.

I smile, and he asks what I'm smiling at. "You always consider yourself as a kid, even though you are well over your 20s."

"I know, but I haven't really grown up to become an adult. I've never really done adult things, unless you think killing monsters is an adult thing. So I don't consider myself an adult," he explains. I can tell he is doesn't seem right as an adult. We always talks like we are equals, which is nice.

When we walk to dinner, I feel accomplished that I learned so much archery. Even Nico had praised me for my quick learning.

The next day is spent mostly on skills in sword fighting. Nico summons some skeletons that I have to fight my way past, which was a first. After lunch, we study more about monsters and the history of the gods. I realize he isn't pushing me too hard because of the Capture-the-Flag game later in the day.

During the dinner, Chiron announces the teams. This time, on the Ares team, is the Hermes cabin and Hephaestus cabin. We are with the Ares campers, too. The other side is mainly the Athena and Apollo cabins, with the Demeter cabin. All the other, smaller cabins are scattered equally among the teams.

This time, as Nico informs me, we will be playing defense. The Ares cabin is the backbone of the offense, and they want a strong defense. Nico protests a little, but in the end, he realizes it would be good experience for me to play defensive.

He gives me some pointers, like to take advantage of the trees and bushes as cover, and he shows me tips on how to analyze if something is a trap.

"Okay, the games have begun," Nico points out as the conch is blown. I resist the urge to retort something sarcastic like, "thanks Captain Obvious".

When I think of that, I smile. My adrenaline just starts to kick in and my senses sharpen. The Hephaestus cabins is hastily working on traps like potholes and electric barbed-wire. "So, what happened to the older campers that are your friends?" I ask.

"Oh, Annabeth and Percy? They are getting ready for the Summer Solstice; reminding Minor Gods, getting the reports on the camp together. Probably on Mt. Olympus right now," he replies, casually. I feel bad that he is stuck training me, and not with his friends, doing the fun stuff.

Then, I realize he said something about Mt. Olympus. I know that everything is true about the gods, but I forgot about the home of the gods. I wonder what it looks like and where it is. I hope it isn't in Greece, because I want to visit it one day and Greece is really far away.

"So," I start. "Where is Mt. Olympus? Does it stay in Greece while all the demigods are in America?"

"No way, it moves wherever civilization is at its highest. Like right now, it is at the top of the Empire State Building. 600th floor," he responds. He raises his sword while saying this and drops his voice to a whisper. I notice he's alert, so I bring my sword up, too. Something rustles in the bushes.

I leap out of the way and behind a tree. The instant the arrow lands on the ground, it bursts into a cloud of smoke. It keeps billowing smoke until it's covering both Nico and me. I resist the urge to call out because that will give away my position. After trying to swat the smoke away, I realize I have to get somewhere I can see. When I wave my hand close to my face, I can just make out the outline of it.

I hear a couple more twangs of bows around me and even _more_ smoke start gushing out of the tips of the arrows. I have to get out of the smoke, so I quietly sneak around, on the lookout for enemies. Thank the gods that Nico and I are quite a ways away from the flag, and the other team has to get through the defenders and their defenses.

Once I walk around a little, I step on a twig and it snaps loudly in the quietness of the forest. I freeze, and I hear the drawing of bows. I dive to the ground, adrenaline pumping through every part of me. The place I was just a second before is threaded with at least four arrows. They harmlessly passed by and thumped into the trees. Scarcely breathing, I crawled away slowly and quietly. I heard rustling behind me and again heard the drawings of bows. I scramble up and zig-zag around the trees. Arrows fly past me while I try to use the trees as cover. I think of stopping and turning around to face the pursuers, but the smoke is everywhere and I still can't see. I wondered how the people with bows could know where I am through the fog. I hear few branches snap under someone's foot, and I assume I'm still being followed.

Then, I have an idea. A stupid and pathetic idea, but an idea all the same.


	13. Chapter 13

**I know this one is a ****little long, but I think you'll like it.**

Chapter 13:

I wait until I hear the twang of a bow letting an arrow fly when I go into action. "Ahhg," I grunt and stumble. I hope that they would think they hit me, and leave me alone. Just to make sure, I fall to the ground and hold my leg, to show that they "shot" me. I stay on the ground, writhing and moaning. I heard them stop, and I remind myself to keep acting. After a few more moments, I hear them start moving, and their footstep get softer and softer.

_Yes, I did it!_ I think. I keep moaning and slithering around, just until I am out of earshot. I quietly get up and adjust my belt. I wonder if I should go back to the smoke area, but I decide I should go back to the flag. Silently, I skirt the smoked area and go back to the flag.

With my sword in my hand, I rush to the defenses. "It's Pietro! They're coming, and with smoke arrows!"

The Hephaestus campers stop their tinkering and pick up their weapons. Some are equipped with shields, and some just have clubs. Other small cabins like Nemesis, Hecate and Iris members take up arms and stop building barricades.

"Over there," I point to the place that I came from. If I squint, I can see wisps of smoke sneaking toward us. Some smaller cabin members take some bows and notched their bows.

"If only some Ares campers stayed behind," one of the Hephaestus mutters. I hope Nico is doing okay, back in the smoke. I doubt he can get out and help us defend.

"Incoming!" Someone yells. I see three or four arrows soar fro the bushes and land around the flag. I already know what is going to happen, so I charge straight to the place the arrows took flight. I wish I had a shield, so I can block potential arrows, but I can't do anything about it now. Thankfully, no one see me sneaking from tree to tree. I hear the archers scoot closer, with arrows notched. While I'm behind one of the trees, I'm thinking about how I can defeat a handful of archers in close quarters. My long sword doesn't help, but I know I have to stay close enough so they can't fire an arrow at me.

While I face the way I came from, I wait for the first archer to come into view. I time my first swing just before he appears. I knock the wind out of him and as he crumpled to the ground, I jump from my hiding spot. The people behind him cry out, startled. I take the brief moment of confusion to close in.

I shout and charge the group. I get close enough to them that they don't have the space to draw an arrow. I don't know how much damage I can do to someone without getting in trouble with Chiron, so, I play it safe. I quickly knock out someone with the hilt of my sword and bring down the flat of the sword onto someone's bow arm. They cry out in pain while I snap someone else's bow in half.

When I'm about to jab someone, I feel a sting across my midsection. My adrenaline keeps the pain at bay for the time and later, someone tells me that they cut me with their hunting knife during the skirmish. Thankfully, the group of enemies that I'm fighting are just a small scouting party.

By the end, I take out four Apollo campers and take them to the place where we keep prisoners. After lots of mumbling and protesting, they give me their weapons, even the broken bow, to confiscate. I feel accomplished that I can take out four campers at once, even if they are only armed with bows and small knives.

The prison is a little way from the flag, but is on the way. I drop them off to an Ares camper. He nods and takes them from my hands. The "prison" is more like a small hut that has a place to store confiscated weapons. The rules of the game says that the prisoners can't escape, so each team just uses one person to guard it. I quickly get back to the flag, I have our part of the forest memorized in my mind, so I know the quickest route to the flag. The smoke has cleared a little and the defenders seem dazed and confused. I yell to get their attention.

"Organize! Prepare for some more smoke attacks! That was just the scouting part, there's going to be another, bigger assault. Does anyone have a way to see through the fog?" I shout. Everyone looks at me, and no one volunteers any way to look through the damned fog.

"Yes, I think this works," a Hephaestus camper raises his hand and in it, is a pair of regular sunglasses. "I made them out of old Ray-Ban frames. They can see through the dark, and I guess, smoke."

I almost laugh. I don't believe it, but he passes it up and I try them on. The instant I do, the glasses tighten and secure themselves to my head. When I look through the glasses, my sight sharpens and the forest looks illuminated by the sun, even though the sun set a while ago. My eyes wander to the smoke. Its odorless and white appearance make it ominous. Sure enough, I can see through it as if it wasn't there.

I gasp when I see figures through the smoke. Just ahead, about fifty yards away is at least twenty-five armored campers. Most are equipped with bows, but some of the ones in the front have sword and shields. All of them have some type of funky goggles on. _That must be how they see through all the fog_, I think.

"Over there!" I point to where I'm still looking at. I look at the guy who gave me the glasses and he nods. I assume that means I can keep them for now.

Hopefully, we can slow the oncoming attackers long enough so the smoke can disappear. As I'm about to say that idea, a couple of arrows whiz by and land by out feet and near the flag.

"More smoke!" A Hephaestus cabin member shouts. "To your stations!" Suddenly, half of the defenders peel off and go to protect the flag and man the machinery. The other half look at me expectantly.

I realize in that moment, that I am the only one that can actually _see _the enemies. My mind races as I try to formulate a plan. I will have to shout out all the actions that the other team is doing.

"Shields first and listen to me," I order. In the dense smoke, it is hard to even assemble, but after a couple of precious moments, we make a formation with shields in the front, to block any potential arrows. "Dead ahead."

We start moving together, swords sticking out of the shield gaps, like a phalanx. I focus on the attackers and try to anticipate what they are going to do. They seem to be staying put, probably confused at how we know where they are.

I take off the sunglasses and wipe my watering eyes. The instant I do, my vision goes back to a radius of 5 feet around me. When I put them back on, I give another order. "When you see someone, charge. You have enough space to see a little ahead of you."

Everyone nods and arrows start flying by. Lots of them bury themselves into the shields, but some arrows hit the campers. I am relatively safe, even if my head's vulnerable. Whenever someone goes down, a camper behind him or her takes the fallen shield and goes to the front of the wall.

The archers and guards start to walk backwards. Some trip on roots, and I make some adjustments to our march forward, and then the first of us charge.

"Charge!" I yell. We start to break off and run toward the startled attackers. Our phalanx dissipates and we all take on a person. After a second, I find an opening and sprint toward the archers. I have an advantage of surprise on them because they don't know I can see through the smoke. While the archers' guards are occupied with our campers, I step around all the small skirmishes and sneak to the archers. They look funny with their night-vision goggles on, but I keep my eyes on them. Most of the enemy archers are trying to aim at us, but can't get a clear shot without risking hitting their own teammates. When one of them sees me, she alerts the other archers and I start to run toward them. An arrow is shot in my direction and just misses me by a hair.

Dread fills me as I realize, mid-stride, that my plan is doomed to fail. We are outnumbered and can barely see our enemies. Only I have the magical sunglasses that allows me to see where I am going. A blunted arrow hits my left thigh, and I falter. My whole left leg is limp and I have no protection from oncoming arrows.

I cry out as another arrow disables my right arm. Now that my sword arm has been hit, I'm practically useless. I can still hold onto my sword, but I can't move it in any direction. My legs give way and I crash to the ground. All around me are my teammates losing their battles, and one by one, we all fall to either sword or bow.

Whoops and cheers go up from another section of the forest. My heart sinks faster than a stone in water. All around me, the other team starts cheering, once they realize that they won. I don't even have the strength to get up, or the willpower. My idea has failed, and probably lost the game for us. Half the Hermes cabin is with me, groaning with some sort of pain or cut.

The other team doesn't take us to their prison or even take our weapons. They just laugh and skip away, happy their plan worked. Slowly, all around me a makeshift hospital is set up to clean wounds and bandage bruises.

"Good job out there," the Hephaestus kid that gave me the glasses says. "Your plan was stellar, but they have every advantage on us." I realize that this is Craig, the camper that I met on my first day here.

"Thanks," I say. "I tried my best but even that wasn't enough. How is the fight at the flag?"

"Terrible," he replies bluntly. We laugh and then he resumes. "We were about even in numbers, but they dropped some smoke bombs on us and that really won them the game. We couldn't see and they sat tight, just picking us off."

I try giving back the glasses to him, but he refuses. "They were just a toy I made in my spare time. It's nothing really, and they look good on you."

I smile at the compliment. "Thanks man, I owe you." I walk away and start helping out at the hospital. Not many people are hurt, but still, it feels good to get my mind off my failure. Around forty people are at the hospital, bustling around.

I see Nico wander in, a couple of cuts on his arm. I quickly usher him into the tent. "Where did you go after we split up? I ask him.

"I sneaked out and try to snag the flag," he replies once he sat down. Someone came to clean his cuts and bandage them, but he shoos them away. "I got caught right along the border. A group of Athena kids brought me down. Pathetic, really." He shakes his head in disappointment.

I want to reassure him, but I don't know what to say. "It's good. Nothing can compare to how much I failed when we got split up."

He gives me a questioning look, and I plunge into the story. I start at the part where the first smoke arrow exploded. He laughed at the part where I acted as if I is shot. My story is slightly exaggerated at that part, but I kept going. He stayed quiet for the rest of the story until the end.

"Are you kidding? That plan is one of the smartest things that anyone could think of," he praises. "Just face it, no one could have won in your situation. Everything was at your disadvantage."

I try to hide my burning cheeks. "But I still failed. I could have done better. I could always do better." _Oh gods, I'm sounding like Nico,_ I think after I say that.

Nico's face hardens. "Of course. Always room for improvement." He stops to think. He changes the subject on me. "If today is the 15th, I want you able to Shadow Traveling by yourself by the Summer Solstice."

"A week? That's not enough time! It's- it's impossible!" I splutter. I can handle maybe three teleportations a day before puking everywhere, but that isn't enough practice to be proficient at it. Nico even say that it took him months to control his Shadow Traveling.

"I know. But, it is better to make difficult goals that easy ones that don't mean anything." I look at him, bewildered. "So, get to bed and get ready for some hard working next week"

I groan. Shadow Traveling once a day is hard enough, but doing it all week is going to be a killer. While I'm walking back to the Hades cabin, Nico calls to me, "and next Friday is the Solstice. So, tick-tock."

When I get back to the cabin, I cross out Friday the 15th, and get ready for bed. I've started to write about what I did every day on the calendar. It's mostly the same, working out, sword fighting and studying, but I still like writing it.

While taking off my shoes, I realize that I still haven't contacted my mom. I shrug because it it too late to call and I just want to sleep. My thoughts wander to Nico, and why he never sleeps in the cabin. _Yet another thing to do right as I go to sleep,_ I mutter in my mind.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

The next day Nico wakes me up extra early. I want to protest, but that would just waste energy. I bring my armor along with my sword, which makes the run to the fitness room even harder. All through the workout, Nico makes me keep my armor on, which makes the workout that much more difficult.

"Why are you making me do this?" I groan. I keep my voice soft, so no one else in the gym can hear me complain.

"Because, in battle, you have to do everything in full armor. And stop complaining," he replies. I know he's right, but this just feels cruel.

Next, after an hour of workouts, he leads me to the climbing wall. Thankfully, a small line has formed at the base, so I'm fourth in line. I catch my breath and hear snippets of conversation ahead of me.

"I can't wait for the Summer Sol-" one girl says.

"Me too! I heard there is a big surprise on Mt. Olympus," another one whispers. They see me staring and my cheeks get hot. I look away. They keep whispering, but now I can't hear them.

I consider talking to Nico about the "surprise" on Mt. Olympus, but then I'll have to explain how I heard it. The line moves forward a little, and I see someone make it to the top of the wall. Everyone in line cheers and claps.

"It just gets easier!" Nico shouts. He crouches a little and whispers into my ear. "This is his first time all the way up."

After I climb up the wall on a difficulty three notches higher than I've ever done before, I head to lunch with Nico ahead of me. I remember to ask Nico about contacting my mom.

"Is there a phone here I can call my mom with? I keep forgetting to ask you," I say to Nico.

"No phones. Phones attract monsters whenever you use them. We have Iris-Messages. I'll show you how to use one after lunch," he replies. We walk a little further, to the Mess Hall. "Actually, I lied. I'll show you now." He leads me toward a fountain on the edges of the forest.

"Why do I need a fountain to call my mom?" I ask.

"What do you know about Iris? Who is she?" He fires back. I search my brain for what she is the Goddess of, but I blank out. I shake my head. "Rainbows! She is the Goddess of Rainbows! So, make a rainbow and throw a Drachma into the rainbow."

I comply, without complaining. I've gotten used to things that sound insane. Normally, if anyone on the road asked me to do that, I'll assume they are drunk. I get to work and find a notch on the nozzle of the fountain that has a setting "Iris Message", and instead of a stream, the fountain is sending out soft mist.

"There you go," Nico nods. I keep fiddling with it, and finally, a rainbow appears. I fish out a golden drachma that I got on the first day at camp. I hand it to Nico and he throws it into the rainbow while chanting, "O Goddess, please take my offering!"

The coin disappears and the rainbow shimmers. "Gianna Rossi," Nico finishes. That is my mother's full name. I'm about to ask him how he knows my mom's name, but out of the rainbow is a foggy image of my mom.

I choke up, and try to stop tears from streaming. "Mom," is all I can manage to say. It feels so good to see her, I don't realize that I have missed her so much.

She hasn't seen me yet, so I clear my throat and say, "Mom, are you there? Can you see me?" She looks up and. at first is confused, but then beams.

"Oh Pietro. You look so different," she reaches out as if to touch me, and then the connection falters.

"I wouldn't do that Gianna," Nico warns. I forgot that Nico is still behind me. I hope he didn't notice me almost cry. Then he smiles and says, "Has it been that long since you've used an Iris-Message?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot." She turns to me. "How do you like it? Are you learning a lot?"

"Yea, I love it. We get to eat whatever we want here!" I tell her. Out of all the things that I could talk about, that is the first thing that came to my mind. "Nico is teaching me so much. Probably the best camp ever."

Once she hears that, her smile grows. "Oh good! I have to go, but stay safe and have fun."

"Okay, love you." I don't really care if Nico is still around because I do love her. I wave my hand through the rainbow and her face disappears. My t-shirt is a little wet, but it feels good; I feel good. I turn to Nico and ask, "It seems like you know my mom. How do you know her?"

"Oh, when your mom fell in love with Dad, I was there when he see her," Nico says. I never really knew a lot about my mom and dating Hades, so I ask him what he knows.

"She found him while drilling for oil. She drilled right at an entrance to the Underworld and started extracting oil, which was really the water of the Styx." I remember that the Styx is one of the several rivers of the underworld. "And Hades was outraged; he was about to send an army of undead to kill her. But when he see her, his heart melted," he laughs. "Dad fell head-over-heels when he met her. And, she could see through the Mist quite well, so she knew who he was."

"No way, really? Were you there when my mom drilled through the entrance?" I ask. This is way more information than my mom has told me. We start waling toward the Mess Hall.

"Yea. I saw it all unfold. They started dating for a while, then he told her he have to leave. While they were dating, her business thrived because Hades knew where all the oil is, since he is, you know, the god of the underground. A good match, really."

I am so stunned, I just stand there for a moment. Now it all makes sense; how my parents met and my mom's business success. It all fits together like a puzzle. I am quiet for the rest of the walk, soaking in all the information.

We arrive at the Mess Hall and only a few people remain. A few Ares kids are arguing at a table in the corner. I see a few Apollo kids there, too. Apparently, at lunch, the seating is open. My eyes scan around more, and I see May with the Persephone leader sitting together and chatting. It must be important, because both of them seem agitated, their eyes darting around. May's eyes land on me and smiles. She motions for me to sit with them

I walk over, with Nico behind me. I sit down and take out some sandwiches that I got for lunch.

**Hi again. So, I've made an upload schedule of Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, so check back in on those days for a new chapter. **

**I know the first chapters of the book are messed up, the verbs are in the wrong tense, but from now on, the verbs are all in present tense. Thanks for reading this far, have a cookie.**

"So what have you tow been talking about?" I ask casually. I hope they don't think I was ease dropping.

"Oh just about our godly parents," Reed, the counselor of the Persephone cabin says. "We are debating about if we should split into two cabins, because right now, the cabin is way too cramped."

"And, they are ruining our wheat garden with silly tulips!" May adds. Nico snickers and she gives him a death stare. "It's true! They are horrible!"

"Well, then you have a real problem," I say in mock-seriousness. I can't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"You two are not helping, so if you could, please leave us to discuss our pressing matters," Reed says drily.

"Ok, fine-" I start walking away but before I take my first step, the ground rumbles and starts to split. May screams, and tries to scramble out of the picnic bench, but a moment later, we are all falling into an abyss.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Reed's face pales to an unnatural white, and when I turn to Nico in mid-descent, he just shrugs. That makes me feel only slightly better, because all I can think of is becoming a small splat at the end of the crevice.

_Maybe Nico already gave up, he knows he is going to die,_ I think, wild with fear.

Before I can let out a scared scream, a floor appears and we all land with a stumble. I fall down instantly, confused at the safe landing. May and Reed are okay, a little dazed. Nico, surprisingly, is crossing his arms and tapping his foot, looking annoyed.

I try thinking of why he would act like this, but my mind is still in jumbles. Suddenly, Nico steps forward and starts to call out.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for the Summer Solstice? Or have you been banned again, Dad?" He says, slightly bitter. I look around to see who he is talking to, but there are just jagged stone walls around us. The ground is slightly wet, I realize and get up in disgust.

Then I realize something. Nico said "Dad", and we both have the same dad, so he must be talking to my dad, too. My slow mind then realizes that my dad is a god, Hades to be exact.

That wakes me up and I start hoping to meet my father. I get up, and start toward Nico, eager to learn more about where we are.

"Don't get your hopes up, Pietro. He isn't number-one-dad material," Nico says before I even ask a question. I guess he sees the exited glean in my eyes. Still, after he says that, I'm exited to meet my elusive dad.

May and Reed slowly walk toward us. The are leaning on each other, both shaken up. "What-. Why are we here?"

"It's my dad's place. He does this to me a lot. I don't know why you three are here, but you are, so get ready to meet Hades."

Almost as if it was rehearsed, the walls around us dissolve into darkness and are replaced with obsidian pillars Ahead of us is the throne of Hades, a gruesome and dark mix of melted lava and human bones. It seems to bend and mold to Hades' body.

I don't think about my dad a lot, but the most of the time, if I think about him, it's about his appearance and attitude. Does he want me? Is he loving? What did he look like? The only things I have to go off of is Nico's and all the other campers' opinions on him. As for appearance, I think he looks like Hades from the Disney movie, "Hercules". In the movie he has dark clothes, held up by a skull pendant. Instead of hair, he has blue flames that move and waver according to his mood. Except, I don't imagine my dad as evil as the Hades in the movie.

When I see him on the throne, it is exactly what I expect. His long face is surrounded by a silhouette of light blue flames. He stares at me, no emotion in his eyes. He rests uneasily in the throne, which surrounds him in a cushion of darkness.

Next to him is a throne so out of place, that it looks like the exact opposite of his throne. It's made of flowers, all threaded together to become solid enough to sit on. However, most of the flowers seem drooped and half-dead. Rows of undead guards are stationed in a line toward the throne and the exit. The guards have weapons ranging from bows and arrows to stun guns and shotguns.

"Really Father?" Nico asks, his voice like acid. He is about to say something else, but Hades cuts him off.

"Shut up. You need to help me, now," He almost sounds desperate. He seems to morph between his godly form and a skeleton that looks like The Grim Reaper.

"What now? Has there been a revolt? I thought there is enough space for all the souls," Nico assumes. They must have this conversation often.

"No!" Hades booms. I am still in shock of meeting my dad that I have yet to speak. "My wife! She fell into the River Lethe! What in Hades do I do?"

I doubt that seeing a god so desperate is common. I hope that nothing really bad has happened. I know the Lethe wipes memories, but also to a god?

Nico curses in Italian. "Where is she now? Can't you do anything? What do you think I can do for her? She has never liked me anyway." Suddenly, a grainy scent fills the air and a I hear a pop. A woman with light blonde hair and light green eyes appear. She is the same size as Hades, around 20 feet tall.

May looks like she saw a ghost, which if this is the Underworld, she might have. She kneels and murmurs with awe, "Mother."

Demeter? I think, so confused. She also looks distraught. Something horrible must have happened, because two gods looking worried must be a bad sign.

"Get up, no time for kneeling," Demeter snaps. "We have to do something! My daughter," Demeter almost sobs the last couple of words.

I finally gather up my wits and speak my first words. "What can we do for you, ma'am." The last word is a little delayed, since I did not know what to call her as.

Reed also finds his voice. "What's happened to my mother?"

Demeter ignore Reed and looks to me. Her eyes bore into me and weighs me down. "Nothing, mortal. There is nothing you can do. It's out of your realm of power. Hades, you have to do something! I will make all my crops and her flowers are failing on Earth if I must," Demeter yells and sobs at the same time. She seems to have given up on us, and I start to feel uncomfortable. I'm about to ask Nico how to leave, but he steps up and starts to speak.

"Well, why don't you contact Hypnos? I know he's the god of sleep, but maybe he can help," His voice sounds so small, compared to the gods' booming voices. He pauses to think then speaks again. "Or, um, what about Mnemosyne?"

"Who?" Hades begins, then seems to remember. "Oh, her. Why would she help us?" He asks while trying to calm down Demeter. It looks like two giants trying to dance, and I'm stuck watching, almost in the middle.

I walk toward Nico, just to feel a little safer. "I'll take these people with me and I'll get Mnemosyne to fix up Persephone by the Solstice. Just please relax."

That gets Demeter's attention. "And where will you find her? She's probably a hermit and will be impossible to find." She says sullenly.

A skeleton waddles up to the thrones, from the big double doors. His footsteps leave a slight mark on the blood-red carpet.

He warbles something that sounds like someone snapping. A few more second of snaps and he goes silent.

Reed starts to quietly sob, leaning on May for support. Hades snaps and darkness starts to fold onto him. A cold gust of wind comes and he disappears. It looks similar to when Nico Shadow Travels.

"Fine," Demeter says desperately. She sounds pained at saying the words. "Go. Find Mnemosyne and come back quickly."

Reed stops crying and even May looks surprised. Demeter snaps and the room fills with a wheat-y smell. Around us appear some armor and weapons. They range from axes to samurai swords. All of them have the same feature; they are all made of black metal. Probably Stygian Iron, I think. Even the armor is made of the black material. No one moves to pick any of it up.

"Demeter, you can't just give this stuff away. This is only for children of Hades," Nico says, with and edge to his voice.

"Oh fine," Demeter huffs. She snaps again and all the black armor and weapons are replaced with the gear from camp. My armor that's a little too small on me is there. My sword, with its belt is lying near May. Even the bow I've used about twice is there, with a full quiver of arrows. Other armor and weapons are arrayed between us.

"There you go. Take what you want and start your journey or whatever," she says. I'm so shocked, I can't move. I'm going on a quest? But, I haven't trained enough. I think as my mind races.

Reed is the first one to go forward and claim his weapons. he has a stack of what looks like ninja stars, with a long dagger. His chest plate is decorated with roses and other flowers.

"What about my stuff?" Nico demands.

"Oh, you have something else to do. And don't you remember? Only three people on your silly adventures," Demeter replies. She seems like she already knows the plan will fail. She seems very two-faced. A moment ago, she is teary and on the point of breaking, and now she seems nonchalant and almost relaxed.

I grab my weapons, but leave my armor. I also find a small school backpack with some ambrosia in it. Handy, I think.

"But, how? What do you want me to do? I'm not your puppet," Nico says, his voice like acid. May steps out of line to get her sword and small shield. It looks just about the size of a frisbee. The moment that she takes all her stuff, the pile of the rest of the armor disappears.

"You must guard Persephone and try to snap her out of the trance," she replies.

I bet Nico is about to reply with something sarcastic, but Demeter snaps and we all start to fall again. May screams and I am still more confused than ever. I know somewhere in my mind that Demeter needs us, so there is no reason for us to die. Still, even though I know that, the falling sensation leaves my stomach doing summersaults. The only reason I knew May is there is her scream is because the chasm is pitch-black.


	16. Chapter 16

**I know I didn't post yesterday, but I'll post both today and tomorrow. Thanks.**

Chapter 16:

The falling lasted only a few seconds, but is enough to shake us up. The first thing I notice is the sun. The sun is beating down everything around us. It must be around 90 degrees fahrenheit. Then, once I blink a few times and my eyes adjust, I see we are on the outskirts of a huge wheat farm.

"What the underworld just happened?" I look to May and Reed. "What just happened? I'm so confused."

"Me too. But what exactly are we going to do? Like, is this a quest, because we didn't go through the procedures and Chiron probably doesn't know where we are."

"Good point. We don't even know where we are," Reed says, ignoring our questions. "Are we in the Sahara? Because it sure feels like it."

"Thank goodness we didn't bring any armor," May says. Then she looks at Reed and shakes her head. "Well some of us didn't bring their armor."

"It's as light as flowers. It's actually made of flowers, but as tough as metal," he replies defensively.

I think we are all making small-talk to try and forget about the adventure we have ahead of us. I am the one that breaks the ice. "So, what's the plan. Like for real. What are we even supposed to do."

Reed is the first to respond. "Well, what I got from that small conversation is that my mother, Persephone, fell into the River Cocytus, got depressed and realize that she could wipe her memory in the River Lethe." He can't go on, because he chokes up. I don't blame him; if my godly parent wanted to commit suicide, I'd be depressed.

Once he regained his composure he starts again. "Nico proposed a quest. He say we should start by finding The Muses and asking them if they know where their mother, Mnemosyne, is."

"And we have to find Mnemosyne, convince her to go to the Underworld, and restore Persephone's memory, all by the solstice," I add. It is probably not the most upbeat thing to say, but it isn't a great moment.

"Let's start by getting out of this heat. And finding out where the heck we are," Reed says. I don't really know a lot about Reed, but I'm starting to like him. He isn't wishy-washy, like the other Persephone kids.

All I can contribute to this conversation is a lame, "Yea." We start walking down the road. We went left because we could see a few scattered buildings by the horizon.

"So where do you think we are? I say Minnesota, because they usually grow wheat in the summer. But it is way too hot to grow wheat," May says. Then in a lower voice, she whispers to the wheat, "If I have more time, I'd make you right as rain. A good rain would do nicely, too."

Reed and I look at each other and smile. "May, we don't have enough time to revive all the crops. Come on. Demeter is probably influencing the crop growth. And since she is in a bad mood…"

"Yea I know. She is withering all the crops in her despair," May finishes. "So where do you think we are?"

Reed is about to answer, but as we walked forward, we are able to see a sign. We are silent, nervous excitement filling the air.

May, with the best eyesight cries out. "Oh come on, Mother. North Dakota? Demeter Farms? Couldn't you have taken us a little closer to civilization?"

Once Reed and I see the sign, we also deflate with disappointment. "It says that we are about 20 miles from Bismarck, wherever that is," I add. A small map is etched into the sign. All the letters are a piercing green against the wood.

"Okay, so lets stop there and see if they know where The Muses are," May says. I huff, know that the chance of The Muses being in North Dakota are close to zero.

While we are stopped, I check my backpack for some water and other goodies Demeter may have stuffed into it. I find the ambrosia I see, a few bottles of water, and a large wad of cash. I stuff my quiver and arrows into the bag, thinking a little bit of the bow would stuck out, but it doesn't. The whole thing slides in as if the bag is bottomless. When I pick it up though, it weighs very heavy.

When Reed sees the money, his mouth hangs open. "Wow, that can come in handy. Is this from all the money from all Demeter's excess crop from last year?" He jokes. I smile. We can definitely become friends, I think. Then he adds, "Can I see the backpack? Did your whole bow just fit in there? It looks the size of a school backpack, and the bow is twice its size." Some awe is in his voice.

I hand it to him and he can lift it with some effort. "Interesting. It weighs as much as everything inside, but has unlimited space." He pauses to think. "So, as long as you can carry it, we can move anything around."

I nod, understanding. Finally, I thank Nico for heeling me work my upper body. I can see the beginnings of biceps on my arms. He hands me the

Half an hour after we started walking toward Dickinson, a huge swarm of locusts come from our left. I didn't even notice the cloud of black coming toward the wheat farm. May screeches as they swoop and swarm us. I pull out my sword and Reed unsheathes his long dagger. I start uselessly swiping the air, hitting nothing but air.

"Drop to the ground!" Reed yells above the buzzing of the insects. I already feel dozens of small bites along my arms and face, but I comply.

I drag May down with me, while she keeps screaming. My sword arm is tucked beneath my body, so I can't swing my sword. Reed, a few feet ahead of us is shutting his eyes, and trying to swat the bugs from his face.

May stops screaming and starts to whimper. The locusts are still flying above us, but dropping to the ground has made us more difficult targets.

"Are you all right?" I call to Reed. I hope he can hear me over all the noise. Most of the Locusts have ignored us, just a few curious ones buzz down to bite us. When I look toward the wheat farm directly to my left, my heart sinks. Most of the wheat is either withered and burnt or devastated by the locusts.

Soon after, the locusts move on and we asses the damage. May is still shaken up. She sobs when she sees the damage to the wheat farm. "Definitely because of Demeter's sadness. She isn't protecting the wheat anymore," she mutters in between sobs.

Reed's flower armor didn't do much against the bites that run along his arm. I also have dozens of bites on my arms and neck. They don't seem to be itchy, so My backpack with our money and ambrosia is spared, thankfully.

We hear a truck come up the road before we see it. Once we peer out onto the road, we see the truck trudging up the dirt road. We quickly dust ourselves off and start waving while jumping up and down. It wasn't necessary because there is no other way the truck could go, but we did it anyway. The man in the truck sticks out his hand and waves back. I quickly tuck most of my sword and May's small shield into the backpack.

We wait impatiently as he comes closer. When he gets to us, we ask him for a ride.

"Wait just a moment, sirs and misses. What are you all doing here? I have't seen you here before," he asks, eyes narrowing.


	17. Chapter 17

**My iCloud messed with my files, so I can't revise the story, so if there are mistakes, I cannot fix them. Hopefully I can fix it soon. Thanks for reading. **

Chapter 17

"Long story, sir. We went on a tour of lovely North Dakota, and the bus kicked us off. Nasty driver, really," May responds quickly. I give May a thankful look.

"Oh that's horrible. And you got stuck in that locust swarm? It was strange, because they don't come this far north a lot," he replies. Thank the gods that this man is gullible. "I'll bring you to my bar. It ain't too far from here."

We ride along in silence for a while, until we get to the third or fourth building along the road. It has a rickety neon sign that seems too old to be used.

After hopping out, the man leads us inside. I realize that I haven't asked the man's name, so when we walk in, I ask.

"Carter, at your service," he says, flashing a crooked grin. The inside of the pub is a typical bar with alcohol on one side, a small stage on the other and some tables scattered around. The generic red and white plaid plastic covers drape over the tables.

At the edge of the bar, we hesitate. Should we sit at the bar with the alcohol, or at a table? I think. The others probably are thinking the same.

"Oh come on, don't be shy. I wont give you any alcohol, don't worry," Carter says casually. He chuckles to himself.

Reed is the first to slide onto one of the stools. May and I follow a moment later. Carter shuffles around behind the bar and a moment later, he produces three glasses of ice-cold water.

We gulp it down without any noise. Once we are done, he asks us our name.

"I'm May, that's Reed and this is Pietro," May says for us. I don't know if it is safe to tell a stranger our names, but it is too late now.

"Pleasure to meet you all. Want anything to eat?" He asks. Before answering, I take off my backpack and take out a twenty dollar bill.

"Sure, what do you have?" I say, sliding the twenty across the bar. He tries to shoo it away, but I shove it back. "My parents wouldn't want us to take stuff that we can pay for."

After that, he takes it. We order some corn-on-the-cob and fried chicken. The we scarf down everything he gives us and drink at least another five glasses of water each. While we eat, he asks us where in North Dakota we are touring, and May responded before us with an answer.

"Bismarck, and we need to go back there," May says between bites. How does she know all about this stuff? I think.

Once we are all done eating, we ask him if a bus comes by this road.

"Yea, it should come around soon," Carter says. He looks at the clock hung on the wall behind us and snorts. "It should have technically come ten minutes ago, but it never comes on time." We look at each other, and a silent agreement is reached.

"We should go. Our prints are expecting us back tonight. Thank you so much for everything," Reed says quickly. Before Carter can respond, we slide out of our seats and wave good-bye as we walk out the door.

Right as we step outside, we see a bus come from Demeter Farms. A small trail of dust follows behind. The door behind us opens and Carter is standing behind us. "I'll tell you guys where to go. It's quite far, and if you don't get off at the right spot, you'll end up in South Dakota."

He starts quickly spitting out directions and how many stops to wait until getting off. Reed pays attention, thankfully, and once the bus comes, Carter hands us a handful of quarters. "This should get you to Bismarck. Come back soon." He flashes us a crooked smile one last time.

We climb up the stairs of the bus and hand the pudgy driver some quarters. "Bismarck?" Reed asks.

The driver grunts, which probably meant yes. We find a seat in the middle. Only a couple other people are on the bus with us. No one pays us too much attention. May and Reed go first, and I get the aisle seat.

The bus lurches forward and my head snaps back. After a moment, I can see clearly. Reed is the first one to talk. "So, the first step is to find The Muses. If I am correct, there are nine of them. What would they be doing in America?"

Once he says that, we all think. I am the first with an idea. "How about a museum. They made art, wouldn't they work at an art place, like a museum?"

May scrunches up her face. "I think the same thing, but wouldn't they still be creating art? I mean, maybe they will be at a museum, I really don't know."

"How about a band? Some of the Muses played music," Reed suggests. I brighten up at the idea. That is the most logical thing that the Muses would become.

"Yea, okay. But how will we find a band? We can't just ask a random person about a small band that no one has heard of," May counters. We sit, in think.

"We can search it up on the internet, first try 'The Nine Muses band' and see what we get," Reed offers. He takes out a touch-screen smartphone with a flowery case.

"Dude, is all your stuff decorated with flowers?" I ask, making a disgusted face. He acts like he didn't hear me and starts typing. May gives me a warning look.

"Okay, so we have two option; one is called 'The Nine Muses' and they play indie music, and the other is 'The Muses' which is a rock band," Reed reports. He keeps scrolling, eyes glued to his smartphone.

"Um, aren't you not supposed to use phones, unless you want a death wish," I say, suddenly nervous. He shrugs me off and May translates.

"It's a new Hephaestus invention where the signal is hidden somehow and we can use it freely. Most people still like to use Iris-Messages, though."

"So back to the bands," says Reed. "'The Muses' only have three members in the band, so let's see about the other band." He goes quiet for a moment. "So the other band does have nine members. They are on tour in Vegas now, but their next destination is Chicago." Another silence. "And, their motto is 'We are popular back in the day'. I say it's them."

May starts scratching her neck while in think. I think we should go to Chicago and check them out. May stops scratching and opens her mouth. "This is the only lead we have, so we should go for it. That's my opinion."

I nod and Reed agrees. "So the plan is to get to Chicago, meet the band, and convince them to show us where their mother is." I say. "Granted that the band is actually the Nine Muses."

Again, they both nod and agree. "And probably fight hoards of monsters to get there," May adds. We sit in silence for a few minutes, feeling the bus bump and lurch around. I see people come and go, and we are the only people still on the bus when we came. I realize we could have totally missed our stop so get up and walk toward the bus driver.

May tries to grab me and stop me, but I quickly whisper, "I'm going to see when to get off in Bismarck." She nods and lets go. Before I go far, the notice board at the front rings and tells everyone on board that the next stop is the final stop and everyone must get off. I start getting worried and stumble up to the front. Once we are at a stop, I ask the driver a question.

"Where is the last stop? Can we get to another bus from there? I ask. No reply. I keep waiting until the next stop. I repeat my question. Again, no reply. I huff, maybe he doesn't like to be annoyed by kids. Then, he huffs. I quickly turn back to see if he says anything else. He just keeps his eyes glued to the road. Out of the corner of my eye, I see May and Reed stand up and walk toward me and the exit.

Suddenly, while I looked back, he floors the brakes and sticks out his hand to grab me. While still reeling, he grabs my neck with one hand. I look down as he grabs me and I see it's his only hand. The hand holding my neck is protruding from the middle of his chest. He has no arms dangling at his side, just empty sleeves, and I panic.


	18. Chapter 18

**Again, I haven't been able to edit this much, so it still has errors, I know.**

Chapter 18:

I cry out as best as I can and see that the whole bus in pandemonium. People are yelling and banging on the glass. I don't see May or Reed anywhere, but I have more pressing matters to attend to.

I set my hands on the driver and try to wrench free from his iron grip. When that doesn't work, I try punching him. I can't breath, so my punches are soft and my vision gets blurry. Think, think, I say in my mind. There isn't enough air going through my body to see clearly and the edges of my vision goes dark. I gargle again, barely audible against the screaming of the other passengers. I don't know what they see through The Mist, but it doesn't look good.

I grab his hand and try to pry his hand off my throat. Not much happens. I still can't get air. My legs give out under me and I drop to my knees. I try gasping but no air comes in. Most of my vision is dark and I think of death. How I would float in the Fields and do nothing for the rest of eternity. Maybe Dad will pity me and do something nice for me. Who knows.

Then, I hear the uni-handed man scream bloody murder. All the screaming behind me can stifle his yell of pain. The hand loosens and I gasp for breath. For a few seconds, all I can do is kneel over and breath all the air I can. While I am recovering, I see a hairy thing on the floor. I realize that is the driver's hand. I almost gag at the sight.

I look up and see that the driver is still shouting in pain and the stub in the middle of his torso is bleeding badly. It isn't the normal red blood though, it looks like sand. I realize that the two headed snake also turned into some type of sand or dust.

The man/monster recovers little and when I look up, he is getting ready to pounce on me again. I still haven't fully recovered, but I put my fists up. I try to stop swaying, but I'm not very steady on my feet. He has already slipped out of the driver's seat and is getting ready to head-butt me.

I almost laugh at the sight of it, a man with no arms, with a two-inch stub of flesh in the middle of his chest bleeding sand like a fountain. Before he can come any closer and lunge at me, I heard him grunt. The sunset gave just enough light to show something shiny and metal protruding from the fountain of sand. The metal hit perfectly in the center of his stub arm. He falls to his knees and even more shouting and screaming come from the back. I turn around, seeing someone pry open the emergency exit on the back window. Reed has some metal disks in his hand and May has her sword out. I don't know where she hid it, but she has it out now. The bus is empty now, besides us three and a lump of sand by my feet.

May starts running over to me. When she gets to me, she wraps her arms around me and gives me a big hug. "Oh my gods! Are you okay? I think… I think he got you, when you fell to your knees."

"Yea, me too. But thankfully, we have Reed, with his pin-point accurate shurikens. Specially made from Celestial Bronze to kill monsters." I say. She nudges Reed and smiles. Now, I notice the way they look at each other, and the unnecessary contact. They are the same age, both a couple years older than me.

Of course. They practically live with each other, too. I think. I shake my head and thank Reed for saving my life.

"I think we should leave soon, so we don't get harassed by the police and interrogated," I warn. That is the last think we need.

Agreeing, we quickly get off the bus. A small crowd has already formed and we try to act shaken up. I look around and notice we are in the suburbs of Bismarck already. The road isn't dirt, it is paved. Small houses are all around us.

We try to skirt the crowd, and get back onto the road. No one follows us. Everyone is more interested in the cops, that just arrived.

I hear someone say something about a crazy driver that grabbed a kid. Good, I'm not Americas Most Wanted, I think.

Since the bus veered off the road, close to a river, and into some bushes, we have to climb a little to get back on to the road. "Wow. That happened." I say.

"Yea, and now how are we going to get to the train station?" Reed asks drily. Another silence bubbles around us.

"How about asking someone where to go, first of all," I say. "We don't even know where we are. This could be New York for all we know."

As I say that, we are approached by a young lady, around 30. She has a mix of blonde and red hair, similar to May's but lighter. She is average height, a few inches taller than me.

"Hey, are you in that freak crash? It looks horrible," she says. I give May and Reed a look, wondering if we should say the truth, or make something up. May gives the slightest nod of her head and I respond.

"Yes, we don't know where we are. Can you help us? Our parents are waiting for us at the train station," I ask. I sniffle for an effect and it seems to work.

Her eyes are soaked with sympathy. "Of course! Can I take you there? It is just across the river." She points, as if we didn't know where the river is.

"I don't know, after all we have been through, I don't think we can trust anyone right now," Reed says quickly. I look at him, thankful. I don't want to fight anyone right now. I need a good night's sleep, not something else to worry about.

"Oh of course. Let me call a taxi for you, then. Oh you poor things," she moves as if to hug us, and we all retract from her embrace. All of us are on high alert. I move my hand a little closer to the backpack on my back. "Sorry. I'm so silly. Let me just call a taxi."

She struts rummaging through her purse and takes out a phone. Once she is preoccupied typing in a phone number, we all walk backwards. "What is that? Normal people don't do that," May says. She shakes her head. "Once we are on the train to Chicago, we can all have a good night's sleep."

We all nod. "We should take the taxi and just get out of here," Reed adds. After our small conference, we just wait for the taxi. The sun dips even lower toward the horizon. When I look up, the sky is stained a variety of colors ranging from pink to indigo.

After the woman is done chatting on her phone, she slowly walk toward us. I feel May, and Reed tense up, and I raise my hand closer to my magical backpack, ready for her to morph into some scary demon.


	19. Chapter 19

**I know this one's a little short and boring, but hey, it's a book, so I need to develop the plot and stuff.**

Chapter 19:

When she is within speaking distance, she starts apologizing. "Sorry for coming so close, I haven't run into many questing demigods before, so I'm still awkward."

All of us are silent. How does she know about us? I think. Instinctively, I put my hand toward the backpack, reaching for my weapon. "What's a demigod?" I ask quickly.

"Oh please. I can feel all three of your auras from miles away," she replies, casually. "All demigods that go into the mortal world are tells to watch out for other demigods, either questing or just traveling."

She takes something out of her purse, and it's a plastic bag with what looks like ambrosia.

"Don't act all surprised. You three are very powerful together, and it feels like you augment each others' powers and auras," she barrels on. We can see the taxi when it skids around the corner. "Here you go." The woman hands us a bag of ambrosia. I don't have the heart to tell her we have enough, but I take it and put it in my backpack.

The taxi arrives at the curb and we all pile into the back. I hear the woman say to the driver something about the train station and she pays for the ride. "Oh, you didn't have to," May says. The woman responds in a shrug and waves as we drive along the road.

"Wow, that is weird," Reed says. I sit next to him, cramped in the middle of him and May. "The lady said we are going to the train station, right?" He says in a louder voice.

"Yes. It's just across the Missouri," the driver replies. We keep driving in silence, thinning about what happened and what lies ahead. The road changes to a highway and when I look down, we are zipping by the Missouri River. The highway peters out into just a boulevard and we take a sharp left. When I look around, I gasp.

Reed and May lift their heads and also look shocked. For a place so remote, the train station look out of place. The walls are a mix of wood and steel, with big windows. The roof is a dome made of glass and spidered with metal beams. Even waterfalls run down the sides of the steps leading to the building.

"Most people are in awe of our train station. There used to be baseball fields here, but they are torn down. This is one of the only things that Bismarck is known for. Even though it is barely used," the driver says, a little bitterness in his voice. "The inside isn't as fancy, only the entrance room is."

Since the sun have already set, all the lights inside are on, making the building stand out even more. The driver is right, only a few groups of people are milling around in the front, and the inside seems to be pretty empty.

All three of us get out of the cab and walk toward the station. The steps are stone, covered in wood slates. The small waterfalls seem to relax me with their constant dripping noise. That is when I realize that this day has been so long and stressful, no wonder I am tired.

When we enter, a small bell rings. The lady at the counter looks up from her magazine. "Hello! Are you kids lost?" She says with an over-exaggerated smile. Right now, I am weary of anyone noticing us and being friendly. We walk over to the counter

"No, we are looking for a train ride to Chicago. Our parents are waiting for us there," Reed replies before any of us can. We us the family trick a lot, I think.

"Okay, let me see." The woman starts typing on the computer behind the counter. The light of the monitor casts a creepy shadow on her face. "Okay. So there are two trains to Chicago every day. One at nine in the morning, and one at nine at night. So three tickets for the train ride to Chicago tonight?"

We nod our heads. She keeps talking, "Do you want the regular, deluxe the business, or the master seating. For a long night's journey, I recommend the master seating. You get your own room with four beds."

"How much will it be for the master seating?" I ask. I take off my backpack and think of a wad of cash. When I reach inside, the first thing my hand touches is a thick stack of money.

"500 dollars. It really is the best deal," the lady replies. All this time, she keeps wearing her large smile. It seems stapled in that position. I quickly count to 500 in twenties, because I don't want to flash the money around. Even the lady is a little surprised at the money.

After I hand her the money, she prints out the tickets. She hands it to us and says, "Follow the hallway down there. Go to Platform 16 and wait. It should come in about an hour and a half. Not many other trains should come this way." He voice at the end seems a little melancholy.

The woman hands us the tickets and we head off. I look back a couple of times, trying to look casual, fearing she might turn into some demon thing.


	20. Chapter 20

**I still can't edit my story because of silly iCloud, so this will have some flaws.**

Chapter 20:

"This place is sad," May says. She looks around and we see only a handful of people in the large area. Rows of chairs are waiting for someone to sit in them. Tracks lead in and out of the sides. Platforms are painted yellow and signs saying not to jump on the tracks are dotted around. Each platform has two tracks leading out of the train terminal.

Platform 16 is one from the farthest gate. "Why did they even build 17 platforms if this place is so empty."

"Yea, I know. My stomach is as empty as this place," I joke. Reed starts laughing and can't stop either.

"Really?" May gives me a very condescending look. "Fine then, let's get something to eat."

Reed subsides and nods. Platforms 16 and 17 form the small part of the "L" shape of the platforms. Our small alcove is deserted besides us. No food stand is open here, so we walk to where we can see down the long hallway. A small gust of wind comes and hits us from where a train has come to a stop. I read the sign above it and says the train is going to Philadelphia.

"Look, over there." May points to a stand that is against the wall. Two or three people stand, waiting for some food. She always seems to see everything before us.

We head toward the small line and I reach behind me for some money. As we get closer, I can see a small neon sign above the stall. It says "Hot Dogs", and I smell it too.

"Oh, I haven't have one of these in a while," I say. I've mostly have burgers and pizza at camp. "My stomach gurgles, anticipating the food.

The line dissolves when we get there, so the guy manning the station is ready for us to order. I pick up a small menu and quickly browse it. May and Reed follow suit.

"May I have two 'Insane Dogs' please?" I ask. The "Insane Dog" is a hot dog wrapped in bacon with onions, peppers and cheese on top. Sounds nasty, but I'm craving something along the lines of nasty.

Reed orders three of some specialty dog, and May asks if there is anything vegetarian. The guy smiles and nods. "We have one tofu dog. Not very popular, but it's the only vegetarian thing on the menu."

"I'll have two of those, then," May huffs. I pay and we turn around. We take a seat close to the stand, waiting for dinner. "Gross. I hate tofu," she says in a whisper. Both Reed and I smile. "And can we please not use the family excuse on people. Look at us, one dark hair, dark skinned kid, one redhead and another blue-eyed and light brown haired kid. One day, someone with half a brain wont believe us."

I even laugh at that. "Yes mother. If anyone says anything, I'll say you are the adopted one." She shoots me a death-stare as Reed laughs.

A few minutes later, he waves at us and we pick up our hot dogs. Reed has some difficulty carrying his three hot dogs, but we manage. The walk back to the platform is tedious for me because my backpack is weighing me down. We turn to the right, toward Platform 16 and 17, and settle down in any chair we want. This alcove is deserted, all the chairs are empty, just the way we left it.

We settle onto a table. The table is near the back wall, away from the platforms and train tracks. I swing off the backpack and it land on the ground next to my chair with a thud.

"Are you really going to eat that? It doesn't even smell like a hot dog," Reed says. He unwraps one of his hot dogs and takes a bite. "That is what I call a real hot dog."

May rolls her eyes and takes a bite out of her hot dog. After a few bites, she swallows and shrugs. "Not too bad. Anything tastes good right now."

I start unwrapping my meal and when the smell hits my nose, I almost start drooling. After the first bite, I try thinking when the last time we ate is. I remember that we are with the man at his pub and ate fried chicken. That is over eight hours ago.

We eat in mostly silence. Most of the noise is munching and asking for water from my magical backpack. I try to pace myself, and not eat too quickly, but it doesn't work. By the end, I have the hiccups and they won't go away.

"Wow, that is good," I say as I stretch. Reed burps in response. After that big meal, my eyelids are heavy and all I want is a good bed. We check the phone and the train comes in half an hour so I decide to wait until we are on the train to sleep.

May and Reed both go to the bathroom, which is around the corner. I don't have anything really to do, so I look through the backpack. I start by taking out whatever I know is in there. I lay my sword, May's sword and shield and the ambrosia out on the floor. I look up before doing this, I don't want anyone barging in and seeing weapons on the floor.

Next, I take out all of the money and count it. After buying dinner and the train tickets, we only have around a hundred dollars in cash. I expected much less, considering we already spent 500 dollars. When I reach into the bag, I think of any weapons that Demeter may have put in here. My hands wrap around a small hilt, and I pull it out. Thank the gods the backpack gives me weapons hilt-first.

The thing in my hand is a small, white blade and it looks familiar. I realize it's the spoil I got from the double-headed snake. The edge is still razor-sharp. In the light, I can tell the five inch blade is carved with small designs. I check the hilt, which is smaller than the blade, and attached to it is a sheath for the blade. Both the hilt and the sheath are made from snake skin. I strap it to my ankle, like I see in the movies.

Reed walks up from the bathroom and looks at the blade. "Dang, that looks like one fine dagger. Where did you get it," he leans in and inspects it.

"I killed a snake thing on my way to Camp Half-Blood. It is pretty scary," I say. He tells me to go on, so I expand on the story on how I got to the camp.

By the end, Reed seemed pretty impressed. "I have a pretty weird getting-to-camp story, too. It is pretty early in the morning, around sunrise, and the satyr assigned to me is leading me to camp. I didn't know what is really happening, and the satyr wasn't the nicest guy. Usually satyrs and children of nature gods get along well, but not with me. A huge rat-thing is chasing us for a while, and at one point, I is so confused, I yelled and the rat turned into a tulip, my favorite flower." I laughed, then he continued. "I became even more confused, and after that feat, since I is untrained, it wore me out pretty bad."

"Wow, that is pretty cool. Do satyrs get along with you now?" I ask.

Reed gets up, acting as if he didn't hear the question. Before he goes far, he calls over his shoulders, barely over a whisper, "I don't know."

I just sit there for a few seconds, stunned and mostly confused. I don't go after him and question him more, because when I look back at him, his head is leaned back and I hear soft snoring.

My eyes wander back to the backpack, on the ground, with random things strewn around it. I kneel back down onto the cold square tiles and put my hand inside the opening of the backpack. I think of anything. I have already gotten various first-aid things like antiseptic gel and band-aids. Some larger gauze pads are also part of the list. I keep my hand as wide open as I can, to trap anything that pops into my grasp.

A golf ball-sized thing fitted itself onto the palm of my hand. It feels smooth, like it's been touched until every wrinkle in it is worn out. I pull it out quickly, and see it isn't perfectly round, and is a dark brown, close to the color of my hair.

May comes from behind me and snatches the thing out of my hand. I almost jump out of my skin. "Couldn't you have say anything? Gods, you scared me."

"Do not touch my stuff then," she huffs. Then in a slightly nicer tone, she says, "Sorry, my mother gave this to me, so I'm a little protective of it. This thing stores energy for me. The bigger it is, the more energy it has. I have been putting small amounts of energy in this thing for a couple of years now. But it isn't very effective. If I drain myself fully when I wake up, it only stores a few hours of energy."

"Seems like you've play with this in your spare time," I say as I smile. She nods, a little embarrassed. "Don't be embarrassed, I would want this. It is so cool."

She walked away to take a nap. I check my watch, a simple digital watch. I haven't changed the time from New York time. So, I scanned the walls, looking for a clock. A small clock right above the men's bathrooms reads 8:35 PM. I walk up to it, making sure I see it correctly, and adjust my watch.

Once I walk back to my seat, I reach into the magical backpack to see if there is anything else that Demeter put in there. After a few seconds, a weird object places itself into my hand.

I pull my hand out, along with the object and see the Ray-Bans I used to see through the fog during Capture-the-Flag. I smile inwardly, knowing this will be useful wherever we go. I place it on my head and put the weapons and other things back in the backpack.

Once everything is put back, I lay back, half dozing, waiting for the train to arrive. It seemed like a few minutes later that May shook me awake saying, "The train is here, we have to go."

I get up, rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes. My body is still half asleep when we checked into the private cabin. The overhead digital info screen says the train ride is about 15 hours, and to be ready to exit around noon on the next day. I barely acknowledge May or Reed, I just give the lady my ticket, drop the backpack on the spare bed and collapse onto the bed, shoes and all.


	21. Chapter 21

**I hope you all are enjoying BOO.**

Chapter 21:

After a while of restless sleep, I wake up with a large headache. I look around and see the sun hasn't risen yet. I get up, and open the door to the hallway. I look for a bathroom and see a sign showing me where to go. By now, my headache has woken me up fully and I am aware of just about everything; the plush red carpet beneath my shoes and the large windows letting me see the landscape move by quickly.

Once I use the bathroom, I should feel better, or that is what I think. When I'm back in the room and trying to sleep with a huge pounding in my head, I take a small bite of ambrosia, hoping that magical food will get rid of the pain, but it doesn't.

I stay in bed, rubbing my temples. The next few hours are a blur of pain, sleep and rolling in the small bed. Another couple of hours later, I get out of bed and get up.

Silently, I close the door and see the sunrise through the windows. All around the sun is a collage of colors ranging from dark purple to pink and yellow. I'm so stunned, I just stand in the corridor. A few seconds later, my mind wanders and I start moving. I go to the other carriage of the train and see a fully decked out bar with snacks and water. An attendant waves to me and I sit down.

"Hello. How much does everything cost? I forgot my money in our cabin," I ask sheepishly. My hair must be very disheveled and my clothes probably all wrinkled.

"Don't worry, as long as you bought a master suite, everything is free. Besides alcohol, but I'll need to see an ID for that," he smiles. He doesn't seem tired or even remotely worried to see a lone kid wander in at dawn.

My headache comes back to full force and I have to put my head on the counter of the bar. "What is good for a headache? I think I have pretty bad motion-sickness." I moan between my arms.

He starts shuffling around and I hear him pouring things into a concoction. "I'm Josh, what's your name. Try to get something else on your mind. Where are you from?" My mind starts racing, nervous that he is asking so many questions. The headache goes down a few notches. I can feel the dagger against my skin, covered by my jeans.

"Pietro. I'm from Chicago. We went to Bismarck for a short summer trip," I reply, still a little apprehensive. "So what are you making me?"

"Oh, this is a mixture of raspberry juice, sparkling water and some lemons. I have this when I is first a train bartender. I got so motion-sick that sometimes I have to stop working and just sit down." He slides the drink across the bar and I take it in my hands.

Between sips, I say, "This is great. Thanks." I drain the fizzy drink and head back to the room. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep. My headache won't be bothering me anymore. Thanks."

"No problem. Come back if you want snacks or something to drink," Josh calls back.

Once I'm back in the room, the sun has gone up quite a bit. My watch tells me it is half past seven. When I open the door, I see May looking out the window.

She turns when she hears the door opening and smiles when she sees me. "Hey, how long have you been awake?"

"Not long, half an hour tops. I went out because I have a headache." I then dive into meeting Josh and him giving me the drink.

"I wouldn't mind having something to eat. I am starving." She replies, in a whisper, so we don't wake Reed up. She gets up from the small chair near the window and heads toward me and the door. "And you should fix up your hair," she smirks when she passes me to go out of the door.

I try and hide the blush spreading across my face. After a few seconds, I go out and go back to the bathroom. No one else seems to be on the train besides us, which puts me on high alert.

When I come out of the bathroom, my face is washed and my hair is partially tamed. I go back to our room and see that now all three of us are awake. Reed is dressed with his thin chest plate under his plain t-shirt. May has a donut in one hand and a mug with something steaming in it.

"A donut? Really. You haven't even have breakfast," I say, disgusted.

"This is my breakfast," she retorts. She takes a sip of her hot drink. I make a puking motion and Reed laughs.

The rest of the trip is different, a big contrast to I sit down on my bottom bunk and relax. Reed and May walk in and out every once in a while as I doze off.

May shakes me awake saying that we have to get up. I jump out of bed, adrenaline waking me up in a heartbeat.

"We just have to leave the train, not fight a dragon," May jokes. I try patting my hair back down and trying to iron out the creases on my shirt with my hands.

A disembodied voice tells us that there is two minutes until we are at union Station in Chicago. Reed, May and I pile out to the corridor and walk toward the exit. I have my backpack while May and Reed both have a coke in their hands. "So am I the pack mule of this journey?" I say drily. "You better have gotten food and drinks for me."

"Yea, we got you covered. I put some stuff into the-," he stops and leans forward. In a whisper, he says, "Magical backpack."

May rolls her eyes. "The worst thing that would happen would be that they would think you are crazy." She pauses. "Maybe that would be a blessing, actually."


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi, sorry for the late upload. I'll have another one up tomorrow.**

Chapter 22:

The train screeches to a halt a few moments later and we all lean sideways. The few people ahead of us get off with businesslike briefcases and suits. I didn't see them during the train ride, but I don't think of it as anything significant.

A few minutes later, we find ourselves outside being beaten by winds that seem to come from the Sahara. We try to hail a cab, and shelter us from the wind, but all of the are going as fast as they are coming. Reed is on his smartphone looking where The Muses are, so May and I are keeping our eyes peeled for any open cabs.

Finally, Reed comes up with something. "Okay, the next place they are touring is a little way away. They are on a 'nature' tour." He stops trying to read on his phone while scalding wind shifts his hair right on his eyes.

"And what is a 'nature' tour?" May pipes up when he starts talking about nature. She is still keeping her eyes peeled for a bus or taxi.

"I'm looking," Reed replies impatiently. He pumps his fist in the air and continues. "Okay so they will be on a tour not far from here. It's on the outskirts of town," he proceeds to try and explain where it is, but we can't see thanks to May's hair flying around.

Now all three of us are waiting on the curb of a street, looking out for any free taxi or bus. I take out a bottle of water from the bag and try to rid of the pounding heat. My heavy jeans don't help ward it off.

"Look!" May points down the road. "A bus. Let's just get on and find out where in the gods' name we are," Reed and I nod. Right now, I'll do anything just to get out of the heat.

The bus comes up to a stop a couple of yards behind us and we jog to keep up. A handful of people jump out and we squeeze through people to get in. Reed goes in first, to talk to the driver.

I hear him speak quickly, not able to catch anything he says. The driver replies and Reed doesn't seem happy. He complains a little then I can hear the driver say, "I'll see what I can do."

Reed moves out of the way and we all take a seat near the back. The bus looks much fancier than the one we took in North Dakota.

After the bus starts moving, Reed explains what's going on. "So, The Muses are on a tour where they play at country clubs in state parks and natural reserves. We are going to one where they are playing tomorrow night. It's pretty far away, but we have two days to get there, so I'm not worried about being late. This bus won't even take us half way there, but the driver will drop us off at one of the bus stops that will take us even closer to the reserve."

May and I are silent for a few second after his lecture is over. My mind wanders toward my mom and what is happening with Nico. Then I finally break the silence with a question. "How many days until our deadline, the Solstice?"

The question hangs in the air for a couple of moments before May replies. "Three days. So, technically, if we don't mess up, it is possible to fix Persephone before the Solstice."

Reed sighs and we stay quiet some more. I get up and sit across the aisle from May and Reed to lie down. My meager sleep is catching up to me and my eyes are begging to be closed. I hear Reed shuffle out and copy me by going back a row and lying down.

I know that the rest of the day, once we get off the bus will be long and difficult, so I try to sleep as much as I can. The last thing I see before I fall asleep is May pulling out her energy seed and shifting it from one hand to the other. I try to remember to ask her about it when we have some time.

I am jostled out of my sleep by a large bump in the road. My head hits the back of the cushioned chair and my legs fall to the floor. It takes me a few seconds of getting back into an upright position and once I'm up, I see that us three are the only people left on the bus besides a burly man with a big straw hat. He has tattoos running all along his arms. That gets my attention, so I keep an eye on him.

I look out the window and see rows of corn growing in neat rows. The wind must have followed us because all the corn is slanting as if pushed down by an unknown force.

I see the man get up and walk toward the door. He exchanges a few words with the driver and the bus lurches to a stop. The man steps off the bus and the driver calls toward us. I look around and see that Reed is still asleep so May and I get up together. We slowly make our way toward the driver and memories of the first driver sends a shudder through me. May notices and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"So I'm not supposed to be out here this far, but I'm going to find you three the right bus station that will take you to that state park," the driver says. May nods and thanks him. We go back and sit down back where we slept. I feel a little more rejuvenated than before which is good.

May starts taking to me about the agriculture of Illinois and how bad this hot wind is for the crops. I have nothing else to do, so I listen intently.

"So what type of corn is this? What will it be used for?" I ask. She brightens up at the question and gets exited that I'm interested.

"Well, some if it goes to feed pigs and other livestock, but most of it is either exported or packaged to distribute throughout the states," she keeps going on this and I feign interest. I can imagine how agriculture could be interesting and May seems to be enjoying herself, so I keep listening.

She gets interrupted while she is talking about the difference between organic corn and non-organic corn. The driver waves to us and calls us forward.

May goes up and I stay to get the backpack and wake up Reed. I first go up to Reed and shake him slightly. He stirs a little, but doesn't wake up.

"Reed, we have to go," I whisper while I shake him more. He doesn't respond, so I think of an evil plan. "Watch out! Incoming!" I yell, trying to imitate a voice of fear. Reed bolts up, his eyes wild. For just a split second, my vision gets crisper and every color more vibrant. My tongue tastes different in my mouth and my clothes are rough against my skin.

Once the light in his eyes die out, my senses go back to normal. He looks at me and seems to notice me for the first time. "Don't do that," he says lightly, but I feel a steely edge to his voice. I know something weird happened, but I don't ask because I know being a demi-god has its secrets.

"Yea, okay. So how is your flowery sleep?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

I see him roll his eyes and sigh, exasperated. "Not all of us are daydreaming losers," he replies. I pause just for a second, I have never seen or heard anyone talk about his or her cabin mates with even the slightest amount of disgust or anything negative.

We get to May and she is just saying bye to the driver. I thank him on the way out and give him a ten-dollar bill. "You have no idea how much you helped us." He tries to refuse it, but I just lay the bill along the radio and walk out. I hear him sigh and close the door.


	23. Chapter 23

**I think I might just change my uploading to Friday and Sunday. No more uploads on Wednesday. **

Chapter 23:

We stand at the bus bench with a shack of frosted glass that doesn't protect us from the relentless heat. I get up, bored.

"I was wondering about your magical seed thing. How exactly does it work?" I look at her and squint from the sun.

As a response, she grabs my backpack and gets the seed out. It has a pointed tip like a sunflower seed, but is about the size of my head. "I can flow my energy into it and it'll store in there for however long I want it to."

"It was just a fancy present from her mom," Reed rolls his eyes. "It doesn't even work that well. If you drain all your energy, it'll only fill you back up to like half your energy."

"You're just jealous your mom didn't give you a magical present," May half-teases. She's about to add to that, but Reed cuts her off.

"Oh definitely. I'm soooo jealous that your mom gave you a _seed_. I dream every night of having a magical seed," Reed snaps back. Sometimes his sarcasm can get a little extreme.

"So, where are you guys from?" I ask, wanting to switch the subject.

"Florida," Reed replies, not looking at May. "You think I'd be used to this heat, but Camp Half-Blood's perfect weather has spoiled me."

"How'd your parents meet? Was it like a romantic thing?" I try to keep the conversation alive so May and Reed aren't at each other's throats.

"Just because my mom's the goddess of flowers doesn't mean she's a helpless romantic. That's Aphrodite's job," he gets defensive and pauses to think. "I think my parents met at the beach, my dad surfs for a living." Reed replies. He shakes his head with a smile, probably thinking about a funny memory.

May looks around before she answers. I look around too, hoping the bus will come soon. All around us are rows of corn and a long, winding dirt road that leads as far as I can see. The sun bears down on us through the thin glass.

"I don't really know my dad. He left me as a baby in a field and hoped my mother would care for me. She didn't and I was orphaned," she finally says. Her concise response showed us that she wasn't going to talk about it any longer.

A few minutes later, an extra-hot wind blasts forward and hits us in the face. Like _really _hot winds; my skin almost blistered. All three of us are startled and I hear some crackling, like someone's burning fire. Another gust of scalding wind comes from one side and I turn to see two swirling masses of _wind_. They are almost transparent, but they bend the air around them. Their oval shapes are swirling with pieces of half-burnt leaves and dust. Flames dance around the edges of the solidified wind.

"Look out!" I yell over the intensifying wind. I see one of them hurl a fireball from their bodies toward us. I dive out of the way and the ground where I was gets scorched. May and Reed dive out of the way. My backpack is still on my back, and I grasp toward the opening for my sword. The hilt slides into my palm and I bring it down to my hips. Reed's ninja stars seem to come out of nowhere, but they're in his hand, ready to fly. May scrambles up and runs toward me. Her hair is whipping every which way with the hot air.

I watch in awe at the fire-air things work. Small flames are scattered all across the body, which is a changing mass of wind. While I watch, the flames start moving together, starting from the ground, grouping together until there is enough fire to launch.

My legs move as if they are on their own. I launch myself away from the second fireball and meet May. She grabs toward the backpack and gets her short sword and weird shield.

Reed throws a star toward one of the wind things and before the ninja star gets to the actual thing, it is thrown around by the wind and clatters to the ground around May and me.

Next to me, May flicks her hand and ten or so leaf projectiles fly from the corn stalk to the wind monster. The projectiles fly faster than Reed's shrunken, but burn up before doing much damage.

I start walking toward one of the two wind enemies and May follows the other one, scooting toward Reed.

The wind monster starts to fling a fireball, so I get ready to fly out of the way. I hear Nico telling me to analyze my target, learn where its weak point is. My eyes are glued to it until the last second, and then I dive out of the way. I lunge out of the way and notice something. Near the top, no fire ever enters a certain spot. The wind is clean, no leaves or dirt in it, so I assume that is its brain.

I scramble up, and see it shooting smaller fireballs from different parts of its body. One singes my left leg, but I dodge the rest. Cautiously, I take some steps closer. The winds become hotter and quicker the closer I get. It starts to move around, and I intercept it.

The first chance I get, I try swinging my sword through the brain of this thing. My sword moves slowly, trying to counter the wind, and when I get close, a huge gust of wind comes and deflects my blade. I yell in pain when my sword arm moves at an unnatural angle.

Quickly, I steal a glance at May and Reed and see them doing okay against the monster. I focus back on my target and see him charging for another fireball. I know what to expect, so my adrenaline helps me get out of the way. When I look at the ground where the fireball landed, the dirt road is only a little singed. I need to keep it away from the cornfield, so we don't start a massive fire.

With my back to the road, I move in again. My eyes are watering, trying to fight off the heat, but I keep going forward. The wind is so fast near the center of the storm thing that every blade of grass or leaf cuts like a dagger. I try and cover my face with my free arm, but it doesn't do anything.

"Watch out!" I hear May say. I look at her and see she is looking at me. My eyes find a large clump of dirt being picked up and taken into the whirlwind. It gains speed and is aimed for right at my face. A few more seconds and it will connect with my head. Slowly, I raise my sword arm, fighting against the intense winds. A jolt sizzles up my arm when the flat of my blade connects with the clump of dirt.

I groan in pain and keep going. I can feel the cuts along my legs and my brain's telling me to stop, but I keep advancing. A few shuffles and a half dozen more cuts later, I am within striking range of its heart thing. I prepare to hit it, and my mind clears, even with the hot wind around me. I anticipate the wind, and I know it will try to buffer the attack with a large gust. I level my sword with the wind, and the blade cuts easier against the air.

The flurry of wind that tries to stop my sword comes, but I keep my assault. My arm screams in pain. It feels like swinging through wet concrete. The closer I get to its heart, the more my arm screams to stop.

I grit my teeth, and the moment I touch the sphere of clean air, a huge explosion of searing hot wind erupts from it. I am knocked back a couple meters and my sword clatters away, near the crops. I look around with blurry vision and I don't see any more evil wind-flame sprite thing. May looks toward my direction and I see them still fending off the other enemy. I vaguely thing to myself, _one down, one to go._


	24. Chapter 24:

Chapter 24:

"Aim for the thing in the middle," I try to sputter out. I realize that instruction doesn't really help, but I'm half-conscious. I try to get up, but fall back on my butt. The second time, I succeed and retrieve my sword. I see May still trying to get close with her shorter sword. I know that it's a futile attempt because her sword doesn't have enough reach. She would have to get too close and risk getting burnt.

Reed, on the other hand, is trying unsuccessfully to throw his ninja stars at it. I start going toward them, to help them out when Reed pulls out his dagger. "May, move!" He yells. He flips the dagger in his hand and holds it in his hand by the blade.

A moment later, he flicks his hand faster than I can follow and the tip of the blade connects with the globe of clear air. Another explosion rocks the ground and sends May back, stumbling. I run up to her and steady her.

"Thanks for the warning," she murmurs with a smile. She is still shaken up, so her words are barely audible. I look back and see no traces of the air demon, so I sit down and pull out some ambrosia for her.

Reed comes and helps steady her. While I'm on the ground, I check my many cuts. I take off my backpack and feel the fatigue and pain flooding in. My adrenaline has been keeping the pain at bay, but now it's worn off.

Quickly, I fumble for the opening of the backpack and think of some more ambrosia or nectar. My trembling hands close around a glass bottle with a cork top. It has a few sips of nectar in it, so I open it and take it all in one swig.

Most of the hot wind has died down, and hopefully it's died down everywhere else. I contemplate moving out of the middle of the road, but I don't think my legs can handle such a feat.

"That throw was incredible," I marvel a few moments later. I look around, and see the damage has already started to disappear. The scorched ground is getting covered up with new dirt and the breeze is pushing back the leaning corn stalks.

"Thanks. It wasn't anything too special, I just needed something heavier to throw at it," Reed replies casually. We are silent, just wanting to recover from the battle. May leans her head on Reed's shoulder, and I asses my various cuts again. Most of them have sealed up, thanks to the nectar.

"Can you show me how to use daggers? I have mine but I don't know how to use it," I say, breaking the silence. I really don't want to move from the ground, but I think it would be a good idea to learn how to use one.

"Sure," Reed says. May moves her head from his shoulder and we both get up and unstrap our daggers. His blade is at least twice as long as mine.

For a few minutes we don't spar. He just gives me pointers like how to look for weaknesses and how to get close enough to use my short blade. I use my snake tooth dagger I got from my first fight.

"Okay, what will you do in this situation?" He asks. I smile, finally getting to the fun part of this small training. May keeps watch for anyone that might be walking by. We discussed that someone seeing us spar with real daggers might not be very helpful to our situation.

I lunge at him quickly, almost right after he asked me what I will do. He deflects my blade when I get close enough and he feigns to my arms, but just as quickly, the blade appears at my neck.

"The best part of a dagger is its swiftness. No other weapon has that kind of speed," he says with a sly smile. The prickly blade comes away from my neck. "You have to be quick. Really quick."

The next half an hour is a blur, just like Reed's blade. After Reed disarms me while sparring, May quickly calls us to stop. "The bus is coming," she warns. I look down the road and see the bus trudging along. It reminds me when we are by Demeter Farms and we were waiting for car to arrive.

Reed and I strap our daggers to our legs and roll down our pants. I try to wipe to sweat off my body, but it covers every inch of my skin.

A few minutes later, after downing a couple water bottles, we get onto another bus.

"Where you kids going? There isn't another bus stop or town anywhere close," the driver warns. She is a large woman with blonde hair stained by the sun. A tattoo across her arm has a tiger on it.

I don't know what to say so I stay quiet. Reed comes to the rescue and answers.

"Okay, get comfortable because it's going to be a long ride," she replies. We walk to the back, no one else is on the bus.

Once we are settled in, and the bus starts, we talk about a backup plan if The Muses won't help us. May proposes to go to Hypnos, and I say to go to Hermes to see if he knows where Mnemosyne is.

"You guys know we don't have that much time to do all of those, right?" Reed reminds us.

We talk about a lot of other things like the classes back at camp and all their friends. I don't talk much, but listen more. I watch the sun progress downward and by sunset, we are almost at the state park. The driver calls to us telling us to get ready to get off.

"Ready?" I ask. May and Reed nod and we get off the bus. I give the driver some money and thank her. We step off the bus and stretch. I get my backpack and head toward a sign on the edge of the tree line. The trees stretch for miles in either direction.

We read the sign and find out there is a small country club where the forest rangers and some other people stay. We decide to go there and ask to stay there the night.

After following a path for a few minutes, I can see a few large cabins. I find the largest one, and head toward it.

Before we enter, May stops us. "Let me do the talking," she says with a smile. She huffs and opens the wooden door.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

May leads the way and we file into the cabin. Four mouths shut and their heads all turn to see who's entered.

A quiet silence follows, and then one of the guys, someone with a small goatee breaks it. "Hello, what can we do for you?"

May waits a moment before responding. "We are here to see The Muses. I know we are a day early, but we are just huge fans."

"And we are wondering if you have a room for us. We can pay for it if you want," I add. The guys look at each other. Two of them are at the bar in the corner, one is on a couch in the center of the room, reading a book and the other, the one with the goatee is at a table, eating some food.

"Yea, The Muses aren't really performing, because there is only the four of us, but you can stay and watch them. I wouldn't mind some fresh faces," says the guy with the goatee. He then continues in a mock whisper, "These boring old farts are no fun to hang around with."

We all laugh and one of them throws a bottle cap at the guy with the goatee. "I'm Nick," the goatee man introduces himself.

May, Reed and I all introduce ourselves in return. We sit down with Nick and he gets us dinner. We talk and Nick talks about the park. He tells us when it is established, and how he got to work here.

"Okay, if you follow me, I'll show you to your cabin. It has two beds, but we will bring in a cot for one of you," Nick says after we eat enough. Two other guys have gone back to their cabins, and Nick is ushering us out to ours. When he opens the door, a blast of refreshing cold air hits us.

"Thant's nice," I begin. "Did you guys feel the hot winds all day? In Chicago, it was insane."

"Yes, we felt some winds that were pretty unusual. It was really weird, actually," Nick replies. We take one of the cabins in the middle. He explains this large cabin is the one for visitors, and it doesn't get much use. "You three are the only people that have stayed here in a few months."

"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much trouble you have saved us," May thanks. We keep walking and when we get up to the door, we stop.

"Yea, there aren't many hotels around here. I'll take a visitor whenever I can," He smiles and starts walking away. "We will bring you a cot in a few minutes. Hold tight."

We settle in, me putting down my backpack, May and Reed putting their weapons away in a closet. May pulls out her short sword from her baggy pants and I realize how well she hides it.

After deciding the sleeping arrangement, the cot is brought in and we all crash immediately.

The next morning, we must have slept in until at least ten, because when we get ready and go outside, the sun is almost overhead. We eat in the main cabin, where the guys have left us some food. Nick left us a note saying that the guys are doing one last sweep of the park to make sure it is clean and all ready for The Muses.

"So what do you guys want to do for the rest of the day?" I ask. After a moment, I realize what the options are; I am with two kids of nature gods, in a national park. What else would they want to do.

"Well, I was wondering if we could check out, you know, the park maybe?" May says, slowly. She probably knows I'm not into nature so much as her, but I agree.

"Yea, sure. There isn't much else to do," I reply. Reed nods and we head out. Reed gets our stuff, my backpack and their weapons. We probably wont need it, but I have traveled with the backpack so much, I don't want to part with it.

May leads us into the forest, not following any particular path. I do notice that every once in a while she grows a stalk of wheat next to her to know the how to get back to the cabins. We walk mostly in silence, admiring the beauty of the park. This park is different from the ones in Los Angeles because just so luscious. The sounds of birds chirping from the high treetops are soft, and almost calming.

I see the forest as having layers. The first layer is large towering trees that cast shadows on most of the ground. The next layer is the bushes strewn around, either growing around the trees or on their own. The last, and prettiest layer is the ground. On the ground is grass so green, it looks enhanced by some type of filter. Flowers of almost every color are around, sticking out from the grass.

"Can you not? Watch where you step," Reed says, his voice cutting through the silence. I stop, a little confused. _Is he talking to me?_ I wonder. "Don't step on the flowers please. It hurts them, and me, kinda."

I look down and realize a pace before, I stepped on a green flower. It blended in with the grass, so I didn't notice it.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll watch my step," I say quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence. I think about all the powers Reed and May must have here, if Reed could tell when I step on a flower.

We walk around a little more until we come to an opening, where no trees cover the light from the sun. "I haven't been on untouched nature in so long. It feels really good."

"I _knew_ you were going to say that. You're _so_ two-faced; one moment you're hating on your own cabin for being nature freaks and now you're into it," May retorts with venom in her voice. I am taken aback from her vicious response to something so normal.

"I've never said that I hated nature. I probably work harder a camp than you," Reed now raises his voice. I don't like the noise, it doesn't fit in with the peaceful scenery. I step back a little, not wanting to interfere. Now May and Reed are off to a side of the clearing, a few feet apart.

May turns to him, in shock. "Did you really just say that?" She shouts. "You have no idea how hard I work at camp! I've never seen you work as hard as me! You're always training with your knives."

"Well, those _knives _that you're talking about have saved your butt more times than I can count?" Reed replies, just as loud. "You just sit around all day growing strawberries!"

I rake my brain of what they can be talking about, but nothing comes to mind. I think of breaking up the argument, but May's response flies out of her mouth. "Because that is what we do! It's important to us!"

"Well, growing stupid plants wont help you or anyone in the real world! You can't just turn a hellhound into a corn stalk! You people need to understand how to survive in the real world! Learn how to manipulate nature for your own good!" Reed says angrily. They still speak as if they are mortal enemies and want to rip each other's guts out with their words.

As he finishes, he flicks his hand and leaves whiz from trees and the ground and impale themselves onto a tree in an "X" formation. In the middles is an orange tulip, Reed's favorite flower, I think.

May stays quiet for a few moments, thinking about his response. I don't get most of what is happening, so I stay quiet, hoping it will end soon.

"Most of us aren't suited for fighting and killing monsters," May replies after the pause. Her voice has settled down, and has a hint of sadness to it. "That is why we are the leaders. We need to change the way everyone looks at our cabin. Even our own siblings."

"Yes. And it doesn't mean I hate nature, either. I do my required hours a week for the strawberry fields. I mean," Reed pauses. "I just see so much potential in our cabins. We have control of a strong element, we are athletic, but we never learn vital skills to fight."

Thankfully, their voices have settled down to a normal tone, but I still have no idea what they are talking about.

"Exactly," May concurs. "But, you haven't been doing it correctly. We've gone over this, we need some of the satyrs behind us on this transition. It will be impossible if all the satyrs hate our guts. We need to make it slow, so not many people notice."

Now that the small argument is settled, I think, I speak for the first time. "So, what are you guys talking about?"

Both May and Reed look at me as if they just noticed me. None of them speak for a moment, then Reed steps up. "I don't really know how to explain it, but I will try. It's kinda complicated we better sit down."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

He beckons me closer and the three of us sit down. He starts by telling his life before camp. "I was always a troublemaker and could never sit still." Sounds a little like me, I think. "I came to camp pretty young. I was 9. Mother claimed me the day after I got to camp, and to be honest, I was a little bummed out."

May stares at Reed, as if he grew another head. "You should watch out," she warned. "She can turn you into a rose for being disrespectful."

Reed shrugs her off and I fight off a smile creeping on my face. "So, I was unpopular from the beginning. I never really wanted to spend too much time in the fields, making the strawberries grow. I spent more time with Apollo kids and Ares kids, even though I was never as good as them, or as strong."

He pauses to play with a flower he grew while talking. "That was my first year. The second summer, since I went back home for the school year, I was still excluded. I got a lot better at sword fighting, and found a knack in throwing things. At first I threw daggers, but I rummaged through the weapons shed, and found these ninja stars. There were only a few and they were all tarnished or not sharp. So, I pestered a new Hephaestus member to make me two dozen ninja stars like the two originals. He finally agreed and then I have my trademark weapon. I practiced all the time, probably more than I was in the strawberry fields."

May gasps at that statement, but Reed just rolls his eyes. "So, I finally mustered the courage to challenge my cabin leader to a duel, to see if I could become Head Counselor. I won and by the end of my second summer, I sort of forced myself to the top. I made my siblings do more physical sports and take more sword fighting classes. Some people called me a tyrant and wanted me removed, but I stayed and some campers-," he pauses and thinks for a moment. "Well only a few, liked me."

He pauses yet again, looking at May. "There is another side to this story, and since I'm telling you everything, I should tell you this now." He pauses again. I feel like he is over-dramatizing this, but to him, this must be very important. "I also have a-," he waits, looking for the right word. "Mutation. You see, a very rare amount of kids of Persephone get born with this mutation. There have been a few in recorded history, like the creator of the Babylonian Gardens, where, instead of blood, I have a special mixture found in plants running through my veins. This makes me stronger, especially when I have adrenaline coursing through my veins. Like, when you woke me up and I had an adrenaline surge, my powers even influenced you."

I nod and remember how I felt like my senses sharpened. I also realize what predicament Reed's in. He wants to shift the Persephone campers to be more like him, able to hold their weight in battle.

I see Reed take out his dagger from his belt and cuts himself on the arm. Normal-looking red blood pours slowly from the short wound. He drops the dagger and dabs the blood with his hand. "Here, take it. It smells a little like freshly cut grass and is thicker than blood."

I wipe my hand on his cut and rub the liquid through my fingers. I bring it to my nose and take a small whiff of it. True to his words, the red liquid in my hand does smell like a mowed lawn.

"Wow," I say, after cleaning my hands on the soft grass. "You are one interesting person." I think about all Reed has told me. He has a lot of work ahead of him, if he want to reinvent his cabin. "So who else knows?"

"Well, beside you two, nobody. Chiron probably knows, because he knows just about everything," Reed shrugs. "And keep it to yourself. I mean, don't go publicizing it. That won't be good for my plans."

"Well, since we are all going to be telling our deepest secrets, I'm slightly allergic to peanuts," I joke, since I have nothing better to say.

We all laugh and the mood is lightened. May finally chimes in and add to the conversation. "So, what is there for lunch?"

I rummage through the backpack thinking of food, and some stuff pops up. There is some packaged sandwiches, some soda, and chips. While we eat, we talk about Reed's plans. He has most of it set up. He wants to, by the end of the summer, to have most people taking more sword-fighting classes and sports classes. He wants to take his time, because the real shifts will happen during the summer, where most people are around.

"And I want to remind them to stay in shape and pick up some sports, maybe," Reed predicts. "Pietro, are you going to stay the year? Or are you going home to go back to school?"

Shoot, I haven't thought of that, I think. "Um, I don't know yet. I need to think about it," I reply, because I really don't have any idea what to do. "What are your plans?"

"I'm probably going to go back to school, and spend sometime with my dad," Reed replies. He nods, as if to reassure himself.

"I'll probably go back home too. I don't want to leave my dad for an entire year, either. I don't trust him," May says. She smiles, although it looks forced.

"So would it be uncommon for kids to stay at camp year-round?" I ask. I really want to stay at camp, since I don't think I could stand another whole year of homeschooling, after being exposed to so much fun at camp.

"Nah. I know a handful of people staying at camp. A lot of more powerful demigods stay, just because the risk of being found by monsters," May pipes in. "I is wondering the other day about maybe staying half the year, and going to school in the middle of the school year."

I brighten at that idea. "Yes. I would definitely do that," I make a mental note to ask Chiron.

"Anyone know what time it is? I want to talk to The Muses before the concert, just to see if we aren't wasting our time here," May asks. Reed takes out his phone from his pocket and taps the screen.

"Shoot, it's dead. Hold on a second," he curses. I look up to guess what time it is, but the sun has dropped below the high trees so I know it is past noon, at least.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

I look back at Reed and see him stick a thin leaf up the spot where the phone's charger should go. He closes his eyes, and as I watch the phone, the small leaf starts to whither until it is brown and shriveled up.

I just sit there, in shock as Reed turns on his phone. "This should give me an hour or so of charge," he says, as if it are nothing. Apparently, being a child of a nature god has its benefits.

_Wow, I'm never going to underestimate a child of any nature god,_ I think to myself. And I make a note to never to get Reed angry with me.

"Well, we should start heading back. I want to shower again and maybe just relax for a few hours. This is really nice though," May concludes. She gets up and dusts off her jeans. Reed and I stuff the trash that is left over into the backpack and remind myself to dump it out when we get to the cabins.

We start walking back toward the flowers that are planted. We follow them for a bit, enjoying the scenery. The light that is filtered between the leaves let in just enough light to see where we are going. A few more minutes and Reed stops us.

"We have passed that patch of daisies over there," he points to a clump of flowers. "Three times now."

"That is impossible," May bristles at the comment. "I planted these wheat stalks all the way from the cabins." I stop and count how many flowers there are. The final count, after double-checking, is 14 flowers.

"Okay, I'll show you. Let's keep going, and I will point out the patch when I see it next," Reed replies calmly. If we are stuck, which is impossible, I am probably going to panic. Already, the sun has moved from above us down toward the horizon.

We keep walking in silence, hoping that Reed is lying. After another five minutes of following May's wheat stalks, Reed stops us.

"Look, there they are again. The same patch of daisies." Reed points out. I count the daisies, hoping the clump doesn't have 14 flowers.

"Yep, I counted the daisies from the last patch, and they are the same," I concur. May looks around andI see a small glint of fear in her eyes.

"Well-" she splutters. "Now what?" I share her fear in this. If we are stuck in the forest much longer, The Muses are going to perform and leave.

"Since this is some type of dark magic, there isn't much to do. We should maybe go another way, and risk getting lost," I envy Reed's composure throughout this mild crisis. He seems to know what to do, and I am here, being useless, scared.

I clear my throat, hoping to not have my voice filled with fear. "May, we can divert from the path, but still grow some wheat to know how to get back, if the spell is broken." Thankfully, my voice showed no sign of cracking or revealing my inner fear.

"Yeah, okay. Which way then?" Reed asks. I shrug and I look over at May, to see what she says. She shrugs a moment later and May leads us in a random direction. I have my hand ready to quickly grab backwards toward the backpack if I need my sword. I see May and Reed's hand hovering over their weapons. Reed has his hand hovering near his belt, where his large dagger is tucked away.

"So, how do we know that The Muses will help us?" May asks. I wait to answer, because I have been thinking about the question a lot, also.

"I was thinking that if they don't help us, Olympus will fall into chaos. Even if they say no, we will ask them where to find their mother," I suggest. The idea has been lying around in my mind for a while, since if they say no, the whole quest is ruined.

"Okay, that's a start. Let's talk about it _after_ this little predicament is over," Reed says. I stay quiet once he says that, keeping my senses on high alert for anything suspicious.

A few minutes after we diverged from the main path, I hear a rustling of a bush near us. I turn, while getting my sword out. I realize how bad it would be if the rustling is one of the guys we met at the cabins. I doubt they would like to see us wielding an assortment of weapons.

Before I can think anything else, a huge bear comes out from the bushes. All three of us back up and draw our respective weapons. After a second of looking at it, I realize this isn't a normal bear. When it rears up, I notice two weird things. Instead of a snout and hairy head, the bear has a human head. It looks puny compared to the rest of his body.

"Scatter!" I hear Reed shout, and I go in a separate direction as May and Reed. I keep my eyes glued to the beast. It stays reared up, and I notice that its torso is also human, with wisps of dark hair on its chest. His, I think it's a guy, arms are almost as thick as his torso, giving him a spidery appearance.

The small torso lets the bear move quicker than a normal bear. His large legs shuffle toward his first target: me.

I don't know what to do, so I keep backing up as quick as I can and pray that I don't trip on something. "A little help?" I squeak, scared out of my mind. I keep my sword arm from shaking. The bear is no more than twenty yards away.

I know I can't do much to him, he has a bigger reach than me and those claws look _mean._

I then have an idea. If I distract it, then May or Reed could come up and get some jabs at it. "Hey! I'll keep it distracted, and you two can get close to it."

I realize the bear could easily understand me because it looks to have a normal head, but it shows no signs of recognition. As it gets closer, I can see his teeth are too big for his mouth, as if a bear's set of teeth are forced into a small mouth.

I see May streaking toward the bear, so I time a fake jab to keep the bear distracted. As May gets closer, I tense my muscles to move. Right before she strikes, I fake a jab to its torso and try to swipe toward its legs. I don't want to get too close, fearing a swipe from its powerful paws. Finally, my longer sword pays off and I graze the bears knees. A moment later, May comes in and swipes at its shoulders. At that moment, three blurs of celestial bronze streak from somewhere and plant themselves into the beast's back.

Once all three sets of wounds register in the bear's small brain, he lets out a deafening roar that comes from such a small head. I stop for a second, trying to get my bearings. I see the bear stagger to the ground on all fours, and May gets to work.

Once Reed sees what May is doing, he starts to help her. Small vines with celestial bronze thorns spring up around all four of his paws. The bear doesn't notice until the vines are at his elbows. Hair from his limbs fall off in clumps and the bear tries to break its shackles of nature.

"Keep it busy!" May cries. I hear the strain in her voice, and know the two of them can't hold out much longer.

I close in while it is still on all fours. I still don't want too close, because at any moment, it can break the bonds and pounce on me. I come close enough to swing my sword and hit its face.

"Hurry!" Reed shouts through gritted teeth. I am close enough to see the bear-man's features and see how odd his head fits on the gigantic shoulders. His black, beady eyes are glued to me, while he thrashes and tries to break free from the vines holding him to the ground.

I lunge closer to its head and start to swing my sword arm and aim for the base of its neck. I feel the slight breeze as my arm gets closer to its intended target.

Halfway through my swing, I see the bear's right arm, the one farther away from me, break free from the ground. Quicker than anything I have ever seen, I see the bear's arm also arc toward me. I make a split-second decision and keep going until I hit the bear's neck.

I hear May start to scream something at me, but before I can make it out, my muscles are clenched and ready to move. The moment I feel my blade sink into a piece of flesh, I let go of the sword and dive under its head.

I realize while I'm diving under the beast's head that there are many problems in my plan. I am under a bear's head, weaponless, and only inches away from its sharp, deformed teeth.

Mixing in with May's screaming comes the bear's roar. I wipe some saliva that dropped on my forehead while diving right under the bear-man's mouth. I turn around and see my sword impaled a few inches into the bear's neck.

The bear roars for a few more seconds, then goes limp. Its crushing weight falls on my back and the weight of the beast's head alone drops me to my knees.

I see my sword clatter to the ground, dislodged from the bear's neck and feel the bear's pulse all along my back. The heartbeat is slow and labored. I look up, trying to move from the bear's neck, but can't. My knees are stuck to the ground and my legs can't force the head off my back.

I see blood dripping from the wound and its mouth and hear its short gasps of breath. Quiet, almost inaudible, moans escape from its mouth and I hear it take its final breathes.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

Tears well up in my eyes. All I can think of is that I made this beast go through all this pain. After its final breath, all of its muscles go slack and even more weight is put on my back.

I fall on the ground, my chest in the soft grass and have no energy to get up. I just let the tears quietly roll down my face while the hair from the beast's shoulders rest along my exposed neck.

A few moments later, I feel the burden of the bear lift a little and I look up. Reed and May are holding up the bleeding bear's head, and are telling me to get out.

"Come on. We can't hold it up much longer," May says with a strained look on her face. I slowly crawl from the dead bear and when I get up, Reed notices I'm crying.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He puts down his throwing stars and moves toward me. I stop him with a wave of the hand.

"No," I begin. I just don't know how to explain my emotions right now, because I am just so ashamed of myself for killing the beast and making it suffer. I just witnessed a beast dying, even if it was a monster.

At that moment, the bear burst into a yellow dust, almost exactly like the snake that I fought, back in New York. Another wave of tears fill up my eyes and threaten to spill onto my face.

"Just, I felt its heartbeat, all while it was dying. I felt its last breath and moans of pain," I try to explain, but my voice cracks and I don't trust myself to talk again.

"Oh," May starts. "I remember having that problem. The first time I killed a hellhound, I couldn't sleep for days. At least you're unharmed, that's something good."

"Okay, it-. I just feel guilty for making it suffer," I sniffle. I wipe my running nose, and still feel pretty depressed. Some part of my mind knows I'm being silly, because the bear-man would have killed me if I didn't kill it first.

We are quiet for a while, and then I realize that we are still stuck in the forest. "So, are we still stuck in this damn forest?" I ask. I don't want to know the answer, fearing we may still be stuck. By now, what light that has been filtering through the leaves have gone almost nonexistent.

"Probably. I think the magic was linked to him, and since he is, well, dead, I think we can scurry along home," Reed replies.

May leads and we start walking back the wheat trail she made. I keep thinking about the bear's failing heart, and can almost feel it against my chest. I try to keep my mind off of it, thinking where my mom is and what she is doing.

"Well, that was un_bear_able," Reed concurs. He keeps walking, waiting for a reply. It takes me a second to realize his pun.

"Yea, he used the second amendment to literally _bear arms_," I reply, looking up and cracking a smile.

"You two are im_paw_sibe," May says. I don't have to look at her, but I can tell she is rolling her eyes.

I shake my head, amazed at the change in mood, where not even five minutes ago, we were battling a man-bear, and now we are making bear puns.

"Can we please just get to the cabins and wash up before we meet the Muses?" May asks. We keep walking until we get to the fork in the road where we found the clump of flows and stop.

"So, here we are. The moment of truth," I murmur. Reed, with his weird augmented senses, overhears my whisper and replies.

"Yep, and if I'm not mistaken, we go this-a-way," Reed replies and points to the right. We follow him without saying anything, and keep walking. The adrenaline rush I got from the battle has worn off, and now every step is labored. Thankfully, that takes my mind off the guilt filling my mind.

"Let's hope we aren't going in circles anymore," May mutters loud enough for Reed and me to hear. I am just as nervous as her about getting out of here. If we are still stuck, we risk not meeting The Muses and being stuck in the woods overnight, and maybe forever. I can tell all three of us are keeping our eyes peeled for the notorious patch of white flowers that indicate we are still stuck in these dreaded woods.

After a few more tedious and worrisome minutes of walking through forest that seems to repeat itself, the wheat path stops and we see the main trail up ahead. All three of us run toward it, as if it will disappear if we aren't fast enough.

"We finally made it," I sigh with relief. "Thank the gods. I was scared we would never make it out." We all stop, panting. Reed checks the time on his smartphone and doesn't have a happy look on his face.

"If we want to talk to The Muses alone, before they start playing, we don't have much time," he says. May starts to half-jog half-walk toward our cabin to clean up.

"I call having a shower first!" May calls and locks the door behind her.

I protest, but know it's futile. She's already locked us out. I still have some blood crusted to my shirt and the weird dust that monsters turn into after they are sent to the underworld.

I grumble and run after her. Reed follows close behind. We sit I hear her turn on the shower and realize Reed and I are stuck out here until she finishes her shower.

"Well, if one of the park rangers see us, we will have some explaining to do," I say. I doubt they will take it well that I am covered in blood and this strong-smelling yellow powder.

"Yeah, and the only option would be to kill all the witnesses," Reed bluntly states. I give him a look, confused. I can't tell if he is joking in the darkness, but he finally loses composure and starts laughing. "Dude, I'm joking. Don't look at me like I'm a serial killer or something."

I resisted the urge to call out something sassy, but keep it to myself.

May finally opens the door, wearing a new shirt that I have no idea where she got. She has a towel in her hands and is drying her red hair.

"Where did you find new clothes?" I look at her new jeans and shirt. Her shirt has rows of wheat and a logo that says "Demeter Farms". I skirt around her and get a towel for the shower.

"In the backpack. I just thought of new clothes, and bam, there they are in my hand. Mother must have thought about everything," May replies. I test my luck and put my hand in the backpack.

A split second later, I feel a soft t-shirt fit itself into my hand and I pull it out. The "Demeter Farms" logo is stitched onto the side.

When I get out of the shower and change, May and Reed are waiting for me, drinking some nectar.

Reed hands me one and I slurp down the mouthful that he left me. Natasha's coffee ice cream flavor fills me with energy and dulls the aching in my muscles.

"Let's go and meet some Muses," he says, acting drunk. He stumbles out the door and May follows him. I quickly look back and scan the room. I have my trusty backpack and dagger strapped to my leg.

We haven't left anything behind, so I close the door behind me and we walk through the grass to the main log cabin.

We silently walk through the doorway and are greeted with a whole different interior than we see the day before. A small stage next to the bar has been set up with seven chairs are arranged in an arc around the stage. I see a soft drink on a table and walk toward it. May and Reed follow, and I can tell they are looking to see where everyone is.

"Nick? Is anyone here?" I hear May call out. I pick up the soft drink can and pop open the lid. I sip it, nervous. I have my other hand ready to grab for my sword. I've realized that whenever something feels suspicious, to be ready to fight.

All three of us swivel our heads to a small clattering in one corner of the room. I hear someone curse and someone walks in, through a door leading to something that looks like a kitchen.

"Hey guys. I didn't hear y'all come in. Sorry, I was in the kitchen, making some dinner for us all," he explains. He still has his yellow park ranger shirt on, with a snapback holding his semi-long hair in place. "The other guys are making a final run through the entrance where the Muses will be coming through."

He walks to the bar and pops open a beer. I pick up the soft drink that I is eyeing. "So, uh, how was your day?" Reed asks once he settles into a bar stool near Nick.

"Fine, the usual. I found some bear tracks, which doesn't happen very often. What did you guys do?" Nick replies. I tense up at the think of explaining any of our day with the bear.

All three of us are silent, and we look at each other nervously. I quickly reply, so Nick wont notice that anything is wrong. I work out an idea to just blabber on about something, so Nick will forget about his question. "We went out to have a picnic. We are really outdoors-y kids. You should have seen us at home, begging out parents to let us spend the night in the backyard, which really is a fores-"

"Okay, you can stop now. I know you three are demigods," Nick interrupts. "I can smell it everywhere you go."


	29. Chapter 29

**Kinda boring, I know.**

Chapter 29:

I am so stunned, I don't even reach for my sword. My mind is yelling at me to pull it out, but I keep thinking about what he is saying. Then, I realize that monsters can smell demigods. My instincts take over, and I jump backwards, grabbing for my sword. I seem May pull out her sword and Reed get ready to throw his dagger.

"Woah there. That doesn't mean I am a monster. Satyrs can also smell out half-bloods," Nick throws his hands up. He gets out from behind the counter and kicks off his shoes. Instead of five-toed feet, he has hoofs, just like satyrs at Camp Half-Blood. He even rips off his pants, revealing goat legs covered in thick brown fur.

"See? All the other rangers are also satyrs," Nick says. He gets behind the counter again and takes a drink of his beer. "Are you guys okay with the picnic. I felt someone growing a lot of vines artificially and so I checked it out. I came a few minutes after you killed the man-bear, there was still piles of the yellow monster dust laying around. Which one of you can grow plants?"

Reed speaks up and replies. "I do, I'm a son of Persephone. And May is actually also an Chlorokinesis user." Reed explains. I don't know what "Chlorokinesis" is, but I can guess it is the manipulation of plants.

"Yea, I'm a daughter of Demeter, at your service," May says while she curtseys. "But how did you tell that we are growing plants? What we grew is nothing compared to the whole forest."

"I know the forest like the back of my hand, so if there is any plant that appears where it wasn't a minute ago, I would know. And plus, I felt some dark magic stirring in the parts of the forest that you were in. At first, I didn't know if it is just my stomach, or there is actually some evil monster in there. That was the most exiting thing that has happened here for a while."

We laugh, and the other three guys walk in the door. They tense up when they see us, but Nick waves his hand, as if he is swatting a fly away. "Don't worry, they almost killed me, but they know we are satyrs," he even steps out of the bar and shows then his hairy legs. "I wish that there is a universal sign to show that shows that people acknowledge that someone is a demigod or satyr, like a hand sign or a word. It would save the awkwardness of trying to show that they are also a mythical creature."

One of the guy huffs. "There we go again, Nick. Always blabbering. So are the demigods gonna stay for the concert or what? Do you have all the drinks and the dinner ready for them?"

Nick nods, then turns back to us, his eyes are narrowed. "So why are you here? Demigods are all the same, they just show up when they need something."

I don't reply, because I'm thinking of what Nick just say. Reed replies before May can. "I hoped we could have avoided this conversation, but we should tell you." He pauses and looks around, to see if he has everyone's attention. "We need to talk to The Muses so we can find their mother, Mnemosyne. Don't worry, we'll ask for their help after the concert, so we wont disrupt the performance."

"And why do you want to talk to Mnemosyne? She doesn't have many visitors," Nick retorts. "I mean, I don't really care, but there isn't anything that goes on here."

I want to reply something sassy, but Reed beats me to it. "My mother, Persephone, has fallen into the River Lethe, and we think Mnemosyne can help," I am amazed at his composure while reciting what happened to his mother. "So, if you will let us, we want to find Mnemosyne by asking The Muses where she is, and fix my mother."

A heavy silence fills the cabin, and no one speaks for a few moments. Nick takes a sniff of the air, and frowns. "The Muses are here." He checks his watch and looks back up at the other three satyrs. "They are early. We have to get to work! Come on, the dinner is half cooked!"

Instantly, the rangers burst out of their silence and start shouting orders. I look at Nick and ask him something. "So this isn't a concert? It's more like a dinner?" I don't understand, because when I think of concerts, I think of thousands of people screaming and chanting out lyrics to a band onstage.

"Well, you see, that The Muses are only popular in the Greek culture, so they usually only tour places with Greek creatures. Like right now they are on a 'nature tour'." He emphasizes the "nature tour" with air quotes. "That really just means going around the country to play at national parks for satyrs. They even are sponsored by Apollo Records." We all laugh and Nick gets up to help out his friends. May, Reed and I try to help out by moving furniture for a makeshift dinner table for the 16 of us. We got to squeeze ten chairs onto the main table and put the other six on the couch.

The Muses come in a few minutes after we get to work. The four satyrs stop what they are doing and go to greet them. The nine Muses walk in, all in different attire. They range from punk rock shirts to a long black dress. All of them have the same straight black hair. When they see us, a couple of them glance at Nick and the satyrs, a confused look on their face.

"Oh don't worry. They are demigods and are huge fans," Nick explains. "We are just so thankful for you guys to take time to come to our park." He starts blabbering about how their nature tour really inspires satyrs to do their jobs.

"Okay Nick, we got it," one of the Muses says with a smile. She extends her hand toward me. "I'm Calliope, I make epic poetry."

The other eight Muses introduce themselves to us, and I can't remember any of their names. Only Calliope's name I remembered.

"And don't worry about remembering our names, it's impossible," Calliope smiles at us, although it never reaches her eyes. She turns back to Nick and asks him something. "We'll play some songs and then have dinner. After dinner we can finish with a couple of tunes, it that is okay with you."

Nick nods dumbly and leads the 16 of us inside. I try to get a look at all the performers and try to make out their names, but my mind wanders whenever I try to focus.

The nine of them, with their black hair swinging, go to the stage and pull out their instruments. A couple of them have old instruments, like a lyre and a weird looking harp. Others have some miniature drums or flutes. One even brings out a cello.

They tune their stringed instruments and I hear Nick talk softly to one of the other satyrs. I lean into May's ear and ask her, "What genre do you think they play? I hope it isn't like old 2,000 year old music."

She elbows me while smiling. "I honestly don't know. I think they are good," she replies. The three of us are sitting on a couch, facing the makeshift stage. The Muses seem to barely fit all together onto the stage.

Calliope steps up and starts talking. "As you probably know, we don't really have songs, more like three minute magic. So enjoy." Now she smiles genuinely and steps back. I frown, not understanding what she meant. I look at May or Reed for an answer, but they are mesmerized by the nine women onstage.

When I look back, The Muses have turned their old instruments into all types of guitars. The moment Calliope opens her mouth, a beautiful rock song fills my ears. It is the exact genre of my favorite type of music. This song is a blend of soft rock, not the intense heavy metal, with some good lyrics. When I listen to the lyrics, I understand the story is about demigods on a quest.

For a few more chords, I am in shock of The Muses' music. I snap out of my trance and look around. Both May and Reed are in shock of what is coming out of their instruments. Then, I realize, this could not be a coincidence that The Muses are playing my favorite genre of music, and just so happen to play a song that I am starting to love.

I decide not to think about it and just accept the amazing music that I am listening to. I see Nick and another satyr stand up and start pumping their fists into the air to the beat of the song.

After a few more songs, and a lot of sitting still and listening to the music, The Muses set their instruments down and when I look back at the guitars, they have turned back into the old instruments.

"Oh gods, that is amazing," Reed says in awe. We make our way toward the table and find it already full, so the three of us and three Muses come join us at the coffee table. "I'd kill to listen to that music again," Reed compliments the singers.

Lucky for us, Calliope is one of the three Muses coming to sit with us, so I can ask her about taking us to their mother. The four satyrs get up from their seats and go to the back kitchen. They bring out steaming bowls of soup as our main course.

"So, how long is your nature tour?" I ask, trying to make small talk.

One of the Muses looks up and answers. "We've been doing it for about five years, on and off. Usually, we are either on Mount Olympus or on our nature tours. Father has assigned us to promote nature to help save Earth from pollution."

I sip the hot soup and think about her answer. "The music you played, how did you know what my favorite type of music is?" May asks. He question reinforced my idea that The Muses' music is enchanted.

Calliope smiles. "Our instruments are enchanted to play whatever the listener likes most. I think it is always interesting to see what someone's favorite music is. If I may, can I know what you listened to?"

May blushes and looks around. "I is hearing slow classical music. I know it is kinda lame, but it calms me." She pauses to take a sip of the soup. "What do you hear when you play?"

"Oh, now that is a less common question," Calliope replies. "The funny thing is, we hear exactly what we play." She leans in, so the other two Muses can't hear. "And honestly, we are pretty bad, considering we have been playing for thousands of years."


	30. Chapter 30

**Wow, already 30 chapters in. I know this isn't most people's cup of tea, so thanks for sticking with me while I write this fanfic/book thing.**

Chapter 30:

I laugh at that, the irony that the creators of such nice music are cursed to never hear it.

"I'm sorry, but I keep forgetting both of your names," Reed breaks his silence. His bowl of soup is half empty and a sorry look on his face.

"Oh it's okay, but don't worry, it's impossible to learn our names, besides Calliope," the Muse replies. We all sip our soup silently, awkward after her response. _What does that even mean? _I think, but don't ask for an explanation.

The satyrs get up again and serve the main course. It consists of three different types of bread, two salads, and a large bowl of pasta. "You know, since we are satyrs, we can't eat meat. We can, but we just choose not to," Nick explains to us when he serves us.

The Muses don't seen to care, and dig in as soon as the food is served. I take my time, nervous about asking them to help us on our quest. I taste all the breads, ranging from zucchini bread, which is surprisingly good, to some type of sourdough.

We eat and talk about the Muses' modernization into the 21st century. They say they went through the eras of vinyl records, to floppy discs, to now, where we can wirelessly download their music.

"So, why aren't you always on the top charts when you music caters to everyone's taste?" May asks. That same question is on the front of my mind, but I is nervous to ask it, just in case it is an uncomfortable topic.

"Well, if we did, people would notice we don't age, and people would be listening to totally different music. It'll just get too many peoples' attention."

Reed looks at me and May, and I give a slight nod. We talked earlier about who is going to ask The Muses to help us on our quest. "Calliope, we have a very serious question for you. The real reason we are here is because we need your help. We were sent by Hades to find your mother, Mnemosyne. My mother, Persephone, has fallen into the River Lethe, and we think Mnemosyne is the only one to save her. And we think you know where she is."

By the time Reed is done, he has the attention of the whole room. The table with the rest of The Muses and satyrs have fallen silent. "We haven't seen that crazy woman in centuries," I hear one of The Muses murmur.

"Do not disrespect Mother!" Calliope snaps. She then turns to us and waits a moment before replying. "I wish it was so simple that we can tell you where she is, but we are the only ones that remember where she is. And we haven't have the best relationship with her the past couple of centuries. I think we need to talk about this alone."

All nine Muses stand up and walk out of the room silently. One of the satyrs abruptly stands up and walks toward us. He wags his fingers and says, "What happened to asking them about your silly adventure after dinner? I mean, if it's saving the world from destruction, that's fine, but I want some more performances."

"What are you talking about?" Nick stands up in our defense. "They are still going to play for us, it's not like they're going to leave right now, in the middle of dinner."

I am thankful for Nick standing up for us, because I totally forgot about our agreement. No one questions Nick's response and get up to clear all the plates. I groan, and stretch back into the couch, not being able to think about more food.

I listen to the bustling of the satyrs, and think about asking to help them. Before I get the chance to, the nine Muses walk in silently.

All of them take their seats without saying a word, and Calliope sits down across from us. 'We have made up our mind."

Calliope stops, looking from one Muse to another. "I speak for all nine of us, and say that we will accompany you to our mother."

"It's good publicity," one of the Muses with a death-metal shirt pipes in. I look around and see that not all of the nine Muses agree on taking the journey. "We can use our tour bus to get there. It shouldn't take too long to get to Montana."

"Are you sure it will take us to Montana in an hour?" I ask, unsure if they know where Montana is. From Chicago to Montana is at least half a day's ride.

"Oh yes, it should get us there with plenty of time to spare," another Muse from the big dining table replies with a sly smile. I don't question it further, because if they are true, that would kill a lot of time for the journey.

"We are going to leave tomorrow, anytime after sunrise," Calliope continues. "I'm assuming that your deadline is the Summer Solstice? So, that gives us plenty of time to negotiate with Mother, which won't be easy."

"Sounds good," Reed replies. No one else speaks and the satyrs bring dish after dish of dessert. It all looked so good that I couldn't resist a couple of bites from Reed's plate.

The rest of the night is devoted to The Muse's singing and performance. They played a couple more songs and sounded just as good, if not better than the first round of songs. The three of us retire back to our beds after The Muse's performance, but they stay to chat with the satyrs for a while.

"Wow, that was amazing," Reed starts, opening the door. "I don't know what you guys heard, but I heard some piano chords."

I sit down on my bed and start undoing my shoes. "What exactly were you listening to May? You never said." I give her a questioning look.

"Oh Gods, it's even more embarrassing than Reed's music," May groans. Reed shoots her a death stare and she mends, "No offense, but it really is."

"Then what is it?" Reed rolls his eyes, clearly not amused.

"Um, German opera music," May replies so softly that I don't think I heard clearly. It takes me a moment to process what she says, then I burst out laughing.

Reed joins in a second later, and May smiles, her face as red as her hair. "Okay, okay, it isn't that funny. My dad's German and that's all I listened to before I came to camp."

I keep laughing hysterically, and soon I am gasping for air. Reed starts imitating opera and a new wave of laughter hits me. May protests, but I can't stop laughing.

Again, I stop laughing to grab air. Smiling, I ask her if she knows how to speak German.

"Duh, that's the only thing my dad spoke to me in. Now, if you are done laughing at me, I would like to sleep, because tomorrow is going to be busy." May climbs into bed and I get into the makeshift cot.

"Can you sing for us one day? I'd love to hear some German opera," Reed says once the lights are off and we are all almost asleep.

"I'm sleeping," I hear May say. Her voice tells me he is smiling. A few minutes later, I am sleeping deeply, thinking about May's German operas.


	31. Chapter 31

**Um, I'm not good with having cliffhanger chapter endings, I know. Enjoy.**

Chapter 31:

Reed's smartphone buzzes softly, instantly waking me up. I pat around, looking for the source of the buzzing and finally turn off Reed's alarm.

I slither out of bed, trying not to wake anyone, and get into the shower. By the time I'm out of the shower, May has woken up, but Reed is still fast asleep. I see the sun rising through the cracks of the curtain.

"Sleep well? Did you dream of German operas?" I ask May, with her intense bed-head.

She rubs her eyes and runs her hand through her hair, which doesn't do much. "Fine, I guess. We should wake up Reed soon. The earlier we leave, the more time we have to get Mnemosyne, and convince her to help us." She totally ignores my opera joke.

I nod, and walk toward Reed. I shake him awake and start to get my stuff. "Reed, we need to go soon," I call to him, since he still hasn't gotten out of bed.

"Gimme a second," I hear him say, but it comes out muffled from all the blankets wrapped around him. I keep organizing my backpack and putting away our spare clothes. I find some snacks and put them in the magical backpack. I swing it on my back to see how heavy it weighs. I shrug it off and put a couple more water bottles in it since it's still pretty light.

After the two of them take a shower, not knowing how long it will be before we get to take another one, we go outside with all our stuff.

We walk toward the main cabin, looking for The Muses. I hear a conversation and Calliope's melodic voice on top of it all. We walk in and see all nine Muses and the four satyrs at the long table and a whole range of breakfast layer on it.

"Hey guys," Nick waves us over when he sees us. The satyrs seem in a good mood, but some of the Muses are tight-lipped.

We manage to squeeze all sixteen of us on a table meant for six, but breakfast is a lot of fun. The satyrs talk about the park and the wild animals they meet. They urge us to have as much food as we like and I dig in to the pancakes.

After drowning three cups of orange juice, I ask. "So, what's the plan? Where are we going to find your mother?" I try to say with a mouthful of pancakes.

"So, the nine of us have been talking throughout the night, and decided to go directly to our mother, somewhere in Canada. We have contacted our closest fans, the wild centaurs, and they will take us all the way to the border of Canada," one of the Muses replies. I look at her dark hair and try to remember her name, but it always seems to escape my mind.

"How will the centaurs help us get all the way to Canada? And when are they coming?" I think, remembering what I know about centaurs.

Reed replies with maple syrup all over his face. "Centaurs bend time, so they travel, like, really fast, right?"

"Yes, you could say it like that. They should be here any second," Calliope responds. She then turns to Nick, and asks, "Can you bring out some beer. It doesn't have to be good beer, just a lot of it."

After a flash of confusion flashes across his face, he nods. The other three satyrs nudge him in confusion. "Yes, of course."

While I try not to judge the Muses for asking for beer at ten in the morning, a big ruckus is heard coming from outside. Instinctively, I grab for my backpack and think of my sword.

The satyrs get up immediately, and The Muses laugh and tell them to relax. "Don't worry, it's the centaurs. They are quite rowdy, but our best and loyal customers.

"Let's go greet them, and if you could, get the beer," Calliope asks the satyrs. She motions us to come outside with a flick of her black hair. I stand up and wipe my face clean, ready to meet the centaurs.

The sun streams through the door when Calliope opens it. At first, my eyes adjust and i can't see anything, but soon I see around a dozen horse-like figures hopping around, their tails swinging.

When the half-horse, half-centaurs see us, they get in a loose formation and try to all introduce themselves. It comes out as a jumble of names and hellos.

"No need to be formal," Calliope's smile shows her amusement. "We just need a ride, no performance." A few of them drop their heads in sadness. "But we do have beer."

At that, all the centaurs whoop and high five each other. Their relaxed air takes my mind off our impending quest. I finally get a good look at the centaurs and see they are dressed in random t-shirts, and have a rugged feel to them. A couple of the centaurs' hair is singed off in a couple if areas. I was expecting more of a Chiron-like presence, but these creatures are anything but that.

The lead centaur tries to fit his torso into the doorway, a beer-crazed glint in his eyes. "The satyrs are brining it out. Try and be patient," Calliope instructs. They seem to listen to her every word.

She leans down and her breath tickles my ear. "They are our most loyal fans. When I Iris-Messaged them, they got so exited, they accidentally burned down their houses."

Smiling, I turn back to the centaurs and the glint of each of their quivers catch my attention. Each of them are equipped with a bow and plenty of arrows. Some have baseball bats strapped to their back instead. The satyrs arrive, each rolling a barrel of beer. With the tops of the four barrels of beer open, Nick hands out huge beer mugs. He offers the three of us one, and we laugh.

"Dude, we aren't even allowed to drive. We can't drink," Reed replies. He takes the mugs, though, and fills them with water. By the time Reed gets the water, the centaurs have filled their glasses to the brim with beer. "Cheers!" Reed shouts, half his water sloshing to the grass below him.

The centaurs raise their beer and gulp it all down together. I look at May and ask her, "How are they gonna get us where we need to go if they are drop-dead drunk?"

"They bend time so they can travel pretty much wherever they want, whenever they want. I've never been on one, but that's what I've learned in Mythology Class," she replies. At first, I don't understand, just because I can't wrap my mind around it, but after a moment, while watching the centaurs, they do seem to hop around at incredible speeds. I'm still learning to deal with things that don't make sense.

A few minutes later, after I've drunk a few mugs of water, Calliope herds us all together. half of the centaurs' shirts are signed by at least three of the Muses. All the centaurs have a huge smile on their face, either from being drunk, or happy about meeting the Muses.

"Okay, I have called you here to help us on these demigods' quest," Calliope calls to the centaurs. "You need to take us to our mother, in Canada. If you drop us off near the border, we'll go from there. Is that all okay with you?"

The centaurs all grunt in agreement. Calliope starts telling The Muses which centaur to ride on, and instructing them how to sit. She reserves the three smallest centaurs for the three of us, and she gets on last.

"I'm Pietro, by the way. So, um, how do I do this?" I ask him. I walk around him, trying to find the best way to get on his back.

I look around to see how May and Reed are doing, and they are already up on the centaur, casually talking to their steed.

"Um, I'll get down and you just swing your legs on my back," he says In a gruff voice that seems too deep for his body. "And I'm Ryder," he adds.

The centaur gets on his knees, and I quickly get my legs on both sides of him. He gets up and I tell him, "Thanks."

"No problem. So what quest are you going on?" He asks when everyone is up on their respective centaurs.

We look like a random bunch, nine almost identical people with totally different attire, and then there is the three of us, the demigods.

"Oh, we are going to find Mnemosyne, because Persephone has fallen into the River Lethe, and needs someone to fix her memory," I'm shocked I can sum our quest up in so little words.

"Oh wow, that's important. Have you ever ridden on a centaur going maximum speed?" He questions while following the others out of the forest. Ryder smiles, like he's excited to se my reaction.

"No, but I will soon," I say toward the centaur. I wave to the satyrs, thanking them for all their help. Nick stays back, behind the rest of the satyrs, a sad look on his face. I don't have much time to ponder about it, because the lead centaur, with Calliope on it calls for the centaurs to start speeding up.

"Watch out, I speed up pretty quickly," he warns. I nod, putting my hands around his hairy waist. My legs wobble next to his galloping legs. I watch a few other centaurs slowly speed up behind me. They seem half drunk on the beer they drank, and don't speed up in a straight line. One of the people on the sauntering centaurs is May, so I make a quick prayer to the gods for them to survive and not crash into a tree.

A split second later, we are out of the forest, and going from a canter to a full gallop. The guys behind us catch up and the 12 of us form a v-shape, like migrating ducks.I have a Muse in front of me and May behind me. The one centaur in the lead bellows something and with a soft bang, he disappears, only a dust train is in his wake. Almost instantly after, everyone disappears one by one and I brace myself for what is to come.


	32. Chapter 32

**Sorry about not posting last night. I'll also post tomorrow.**

Chapter 32:

Ryder grunts and we accelerate to insane speeds. My hands loosen on his torso, but a moment later, I don't feel the rush of winds whipping my shirt around. My eyes watered and I blink away the tears.

Once my vision clears, I'm overwhelmed by what I'm seeing. All around me, trees and scenery whiz by before I can even focus on them. The only thing that isn't blurred is Ryder, and he seems to be acting pretty normal.

"What-, how is this happening?" My voice splutters out, but sounds muffled. I move my hands to my side, but don't feel any wind racing along my arm. It feels as if I am standing still, but my surroundings are a blur.

"Centaurs can bend time, so we travel really fast if we want to. This isn't even the fastest we go," Ryder replies. I still can't wrap my mind around the whole bending-time thing, so I think about other things. I start to think if Chiron can go this fast, but while I'm thinking about it, Ryder accelerates, just like the first time he jumped to super-sonic speeds. While he is accelerating, I hear a huge booming sound. This time, when I adjust to the speed, the world is whizzing by twice as fast.

"See, now we are going the speed of sound," Ryder grunts. "The boom was us passing the sound barrier."

"Woah," I manage to say, because my mind is so confused. He starts slowing down, back to the first speed, and we go back under the speed of sound. I'm still learning not to question some things about being a demigod.

"Yea, so what music do you hear when you listen to The Muses? I hear some nice relaxing country music," Ryder says wistfully. "Their CD's aren't as good as their live performances, so I got super exited to meet them today."

"Oh, I'm sorry you couldn't listen to them today. I hear some soft rock, but it varies," I reply. I see a small town rush by to my side, and I think about what people would think if they see horse-like things streaming by at impossible speeds.

A few minutes later, my wobbly legs barely hold me up when I get off Ryder. The Muses and the three of us all dismount in some barren plains.

"I hope you enjoyed the ride, ad thank you so much for transporting us," Calliope thanks the centaurs. They all shrink away to the praise, but all have smiles on their faces. "We must hurry, though, because Mother is across the border, in Canada." Her hair sways when she turns to us.

With that, the centaurs all back out of the wooded clearing and gallop off. We follow The Muses onto a dirt road. The first thing I notice is that I'm already sweating in the heat. The sun is battering down on all it sees. All around me is an uninhabited, desert-like environment. Small shrubs that look half-dead are scattered around our feet.

"Okay, so the plan is go north and to cross the border to Canada, which is just ahead, a few miles up," Calliope starts. _Oh yea, a few miles is just around the corner,_ I think while rolling my eyes. "After that, Mother is just another couple of miles up. If we are quick, we should get there before sundown."

I nod my head in agreement, hoping we could make it before nightfall. Without another word, all nine Muses turn around and start walking behind Calliope. We follow and I ask May what she thinks of the plan.

"We don't have alternative, so this is the only thing we have," she replies. I see her covering her eyes from the sun and remember that Craig, the Hephaestus camper, gave me magical sunglasses.I reach behind me and think for those glasses, and an instant later, I have my magical sunglasses in my hands.

May looks at me and gives me a look of jealousy. "Oh, well aren't you fancy." I smile and stick out my tongue mockingly.

The sunglasses at first don't do anything when I put them on, but a moment later, the lenses darken and adjust to the right darkness.

"This thing even adjusts to how bright it is," I whisper to May. "Are you jealous?"

A second later, I lose my balance and fall backwards. I see May smiling, satisfied at her knocking me over. I get up and try to get all the sand off my clothes. I see Reed smiling at the small altercation.

We keep walking without any excitement, and finally see a small fence in the distance. Once all of us are gathered around the fence, Calliope tells us what to do. "Have any of you ever been out of the country?" May, Reed and I all shake our heads. "Well, here is your first experience. On the other side of this fence is Canada, and beyond that is Mnemosyne."

One of The Muses offers to go first, and easily hops the fence. Another Muse joins her into Canada, and then Calliope tells us to go next. Reed volunteers and quickly scales the fence. The moment I land on the ground, I feel slightly weaker, and my legs shake. Reed also seems wary, so I ask him if he's okay.

"Yea, I just felt weak when I crossed the border," he explains.

"I felt the same. It feels weird," I say while nodding my head.

May hops over the fence next, and she asks us, "Do you feel it? We are weaker here."

Reed and I look at each other and smile. "We are just talking about that. Do you know why, though?"

"I have a couple of answers, but I don't know which one is correct. I'm assuming that the gods' powers don't extent into Canada, so we're weaker here," May explains. "But I don't know."

We stand there silently while The Muses hop over the fence, one by one.

After two or three Muses are over the fence, I ask Reed quietly, "Is this legal?"

"I doubt it, but we will be back in America by tomorrow. No harm," he shrugs. "Let me carry your backpack for a while. I feel bad that you are the one carrying all our stuff."

"Yes, thanks. But, don't worry, it isn't that heavy," I take off my backpack and hand it to Reed. Once the rest of the Muses are over, we start to walk in a zig-zag direction. I don't see anything new off in the distance, even with the enhanced sunglasses that help me see much clearer.


	33. Chapter 33

**I know not many people like this type of fan fictions, new characters and plot, but I'm so glad if you've stuck around this far. Enjoy.**

Chapter 33:

"What are we looking for exactly? Are we going to find a hut or something?" May asks as nicely as she can. We have been walking around for the past half hour with no sign of any civilization, let alone a single hut.

"We honestly don't know. I can usually tell where my mother is, but now, I can't find any real signs. I'm assuming that since we are out of America, our powers are weaker. But the thing is, I can feel that she should be somewhere very close," Calliope mutters, half to us, and half to herself.

"Let's just keep looking. We have already come so far, we might as well keep looking," one of The Muses says. I agree, but my legs are getting tired.

We keep walking around, spreading farther and farther apart. May, Reed and I all stick somewhat close together, but Reed starts wandering off and when I look back to see where he went, he disappears right ask I look at him. He didn't disappear like when Nico Shadow Travels, but more of an instantaneous disappearance.

"Reed!" I yell. I sprint toward him, my instincts putting my arm behind me to reach for my sword, but I then remember that Reed has the backpack with my sword. May swivels her head, looking for Reed. The Muses all look toward us and rush in their different clothing. They are yelling something, but I can't make anything out over all their shouting.

I keep running until I'm just around the spot where Reed disappeared. I look around and see The Muses running to me, all frantic, and May coming from a different direction. I take a step to May, but the second I take a step, everything around me does a flip and when it settles, my surroundings are totally different.

All around me are rolling hills covered in nice grass. I smell freshly cut grass and flowers scatter around the grass. I look around for Reed, a little more casually because of the peaceful environment. I see him walking around a couple hundred yards away.

"Reed, over here!" I shout, waving my arms like I'm doing jumping jacks. He turns around, dagger in hand and I can just imagine his face lighting up when he sees me. I start jogging over to him, down a small hill and feel the sweet breeze rustle through my hair.

"Oh thank the gods you are here. What happened back there? Where is everyone?" He asks me. I shrug and take the backpack from his back.

"I don't know. I stepped where you vanished and got teleported or whatever here. Is there anything interesting around here?" I reply, looking around.

Before he can reply, we hear a huge thud and a roar off in the distance. My eyes shoot around, looking for the source of the noise. I take off my backpack, and throw it as far as I can down the hill.

I already have my sword out, and the reflection of the sun off the blade glints in the light. I look at Reed and we go roughly back-to-back. "Maybe it's friendly," I hear him say hopefully.

Smiling, I reply, "And when have we ever been that lucky?" The rumbling continues, and I start thinking about this place. I think about where May and The Muses are, and if Reed and I will be stuck here.

Finally, I see something moving coming up onto a hilltop. A giant blue dragon's head emerges from the hill first and slowly, I see its whole serpentine body come into view.

"Um, Houston, we have a problem," I say slowly, my voice controlled. "I may need some help on this side."

Reed slowly turns to face whatever monster it is. "Oh gods. What is that?" Reed gasps. The monster has cleared the top of the hill and now we can see the full size of the beast. Its head is at least the size of my whole body, and its body spans at least forty feet. "How are we supposed to even get close to it without being squished to a pulp?"

I look around, hoping there is anything that we can use to our advantage. "Let's get to the top of the hill," I tell him. We walk backwards until we are at the top of our small hill, always keeping our eyes on the dragon.

When we get to the top of the hill, the dragon unfurls its giant blue wings and takes a leaping step to take off. It beats its wings one massive time, and glides a few hundred yards toward us. When it lands, it slides down one of the hills, and lets out a small cry. "Okay, you keep it distracted with your knives and stuff, while I try to stab it with my toothpick."

We both smile and separate. I keep thinking of ways to deal any wounds to the massive dragon, but nothing comes up. It doesn't seem very nimble, because when it landed, it didn't do so very gracefully. All the while, I look at its beauty, how the sun's reflection on its scales sends light dancing everywhere. I feel a twinge of sadness for hurting it, but it passes.

When the dragon gets to the bottom of our hill, Reed starts yelling at it, and waving his hands up and down. I stay as quiet as possible, which isn't hard, and wait for the beast to turn itself toward Reed.

A quick motion from Reed sends a few daggers flying to the dragon. The dagger disappears from my sight and lands somewhere on the dragon. It roars and speeds up toward Reed. I starts running behind the dragon and fear for Reed. I think over my plan and realize that Reed doesn't have many ways to defend himself besides running away. And if the dragon can breath fire, he'd be roasted.

My feet lightly tap the ground as I run toward Reed and the fast-approaching dragon. He sends another dagger flying toward the dragon's neck. This time, however, it bounces right off its scales. Reed starts scrambling backwards as the dragon closes in.

"Over here!" I shout, hoping to distract it, but the dragons keeps its eyes on Reed. The dragon slows down and I finally get to its tail. I don't break my stride as I step onto its tail. The scales give way to my feet, but not enough to break. It twitches its tail, probably feeling me scaling it. I almost lose my balance, but hang on until I'm in between its wings. Here, the scales are thicker, and are a richer, darker blue. I finally stop, panting. The dragon keeps walking toward Reed, who has been pelting it with sharp grass in its mouth and nostrils.

I spread my legs, to get a better balance on the walking dragon, and raise my sword. I find a spot between two scales, make a quick prayer and plunge my sword hilt-deep into the dragon's flesh.

The dragon roared, throwing its head back and letting loose a column of fire. I cling on tight to one of its scales while it takes off with a huge thrust of its wings. The blade is still lodged into the back of the dragon, so when it took off, it almost deafened me with its roar. While circling Reed, I hear the dragon whimper every time it flaps its wings. I look back at my sword's hilt, and see a small stream of blood from the puncture.

The dragon circles higher and higher, panting more every time he beats his wings. I look down at him and see how Reed is doing. At this height, Reed looks small, but then I see him running toward a group of people.

My heart leaps as my eyes focus on the group of people and May's red hair sticks out like a lighthouse. I also notice The Muses and hope they know a way to kill this thing.

It flaps his wings once and lets out a huge moan. It starts gasping for air and the wound starts rapidly bleeding. It loses altitude while still circling Reed, May and The Muses on the hill. I climb close to the dragon's head slowly, not wanting to fall to my death, and see drops of blood dripping from its mouth where razor-sharp grass and Reed's blades have cut into its mouth. Also, a thick dagger has landed itself on the its unprotected nose.

The dragon lets out another moan, which rips my heart in two. Looking down, I see how long I have until we crash-land onto the grassy hill. Tears well in my eyes and are quickly taken away by the rushing air when the dragon cries out in agony. I scramble down the scales to dislodge my sword from its back.

"I know this will hurt," I whisper, fully aware that the dragon wont understand. I try to yank out the blade as quickly as I can, and once its out, the dragon spits out a column of flames and roars, but this time, much weaker.

Suddenly, I hear something over the wind whistling through my hair. I look down and see The Muses with their instruments out and playing as loud as they can. The dragon hear it too, because it tilts its head, as if wondering what it is hearing.

Grabbing onto a scale with one hand, and my sword with the other, I see the dragon yawn, and descend more rapidly, its wings folded in just a little more than before. For a moment, I panic, worrying that the dragon is falling asleep, but a moment later, it snaps out of its trance and opens its wings again. It starts descending in a straight line, pointing towards a hill next to Reed, May and the Muses.


	34. Chapter 34

**Enjoy.**

Chapter 34:

We pass right over them and I hear Reed and May shouting encouragements. The Muses' music still plays while we descend at a steeper angle. A hundred feet from the hilltop, I feel the dragon tense up, and hear it moan one last time.

A few moments later, I too brace myself for a jarring impact. I take one last glance at our projected landing site, the top a grassy slope.

When we connect with the ground, the dragon whimpers and I am sent flying off its back, ahead of it. The last thing I see before I shut my eyes is an up-side-down image of the dragon's bloody face. I roll down part of the hill, sword clattering out of my hand on impact. The dragon's limp body thuds forward, gashing the side of the hill deeply. My shoulder feels like jelly, where I rolled on it too many times

I get up quickly, but feel pain shoot through a leg and stumble back down. My vision lands upon the dragon, and its bleeding mouth. I whisper a soft prayer, hoping it will be saved from its pain. The Muses' music has gotten louder, and I close my eyes, not wanting to look at the poor dragon.

A second later, my eyes shoot open, hearing a thud coming from the dragon. But when I realize I'm in no imminent danger, lying a hundred yards from the dragon. It seemed to have rolled over, its eyes closed. Next to it, Reed and May are looking around, looking for me.

"Over here," I call out, but sounds distorted through my ringing ears. The two of them turn and we make eye-contact. They run toward us, totally ignoring the dragon that lays just twenty feet away from them.

"Oh my gods, are you okay?" May instantly starts fussing over me. I look down to see how bad I look and find blood splattered across my shirt and pants. "Can you stand up? Haven you broken anything?"

Reed takes off my backpack and gets out a small bottle of nectar. "Take some nectar." I sit up, pain shooting up my shoulder, but don't make a noise.

"My shoulder hurts like Hades," I say. "But what about huge, fire-breathing dragon right next to us?"

"The Muses will take care of it. Their magic can put it to sleep," May informs me. "How are you feeling?"

I uncross my legs and try standing up. My left ankle feels like it's on fire, but I grit my teeth and keep standing up. "See? It's not that bad. The nectar helped." I look toward May and see her brows creased. "Don't worry about me. If I can just lean on someone for now."

May comes to my side and lets me lean on her. "Fine, can you make it to The Muses? They seem to know this place," Reed asks. I nod, keeping my eyes on the dragon, which is now fast asleep.

"Do you know where my backpack is?" I turn toward Reed, just remembering that I threw it off when the dragon came.

"Yea, I see it while you are riding the dragon. I'll go get it once we have met up with The Muses," Reed replies. "How is it, flying with the dragon?"

I don't answer at first, wondering if I should tell them I almost have a breakdown. "Besides the fact that I could have easily fallen to my death, pretty fun." I pause, still thinking if I should share what really is happening. "And, while I is up there, I heard the dragon's cries of pain. I'm really happy we didn't kill it."

No one talks for a few moments as we walk past the dragon and its bloody mouth. I retrieve my sword from the ground, clean it off, and hand it to Reed to put in the magical backpack."Well don't flatter yourself, because a small stab wont do much harm to a dragon." Reed says, smiling.

"Yea, but what you did to its face must have been painful. Its mouth is bleeding, and didn't seem too pleased by it," I grimace as I step wrong and my left leg flames up in pain again.

"Well, where do you think the term 'blades of grass' comes from? They don't call it that for nothing," Reed says, half bragging. I notice when Reed walks, the grass seems greener around him, and seems to keep him from touching the dirt, like it cushions his steps. It reminds me when I met May and Steve for the first time.

"Did you go all super power on him? Is that why he is in so much pain?" I ask, realizing Reed's weird ability could have helped him fight the dragon.

"Um, yea. Look at the place where I fought him," he says, a little sheepishly. We get to the top of the hill, where the dragon first landed, leaving a huge groove in the earth. Ahead of me, the face of a hill sticks out from the rest.

The hillside is an ugly yellow, where the grass has withered. In the center of the dead grass, two thick vines jut from the ground and are also a sickly yellow.

"What the underworld did you do?" I gasp. At least a hundred square feet of grass has died, scarring the hillside.

"Well, if you really want to know, I sucked up all the energy from the grass, and used it to grow those two vines. I then used the vines to gash and slash the dragon's face," Reed replies rapidly. I don't understand most of what he say, but I don't care. As long as all three of us are alive, I'm okay.

"That is a big price to pay for two vines," I hear May says. When we get to the edge of the dead grass, May starts muttering about something. "You poor babies. I'm going to try and fix you all, but I just can't." She shoots Reed an angry glance, mad at him for killing the grass. Since, I'm leaning on her, I notice that wherever she steps in the dead grass, around her foot, the grass revives.

"The Muses should be right around this hilltop. That's where they are when we left them," Reed says and looks back at us when we walk by the two thick vines and sees May reviving the grass around her. "Oh stop it. Don't waste your energy on some grass."

He shakes his head, probably knowing she won't listen. Once we are at the top of the hill, I look back to see what May has left behind. There are dots of living, green grass in a crooked like where May has stepped. I smile, thinking about her devotion to nature.

"Can you let me do what I want?" She says hotly. "I know you don't love nature like me, but can you please try to be kinder to the environment next time?"

"Oh sorry. Yea, next time I'll just keep the grass alive while. I get eaten by the dragon," Reed replies and rolls his eyes.

"Sometimes I think that would be best for everyone," May snaps back.

Before she replies, I butt in. "Can you two stop? The Muses are right there and we need to figure out where we are." I point to The. Muses, down the hill from us.

When they see us three, they start toward us, instruments still out. We meet a few moments later and I sit down immediately.

"Are you three okay?" Calliope asks. The nine Muses put down their instrument, all of them sweating.

"Us two are fine, but Pietro's foot and shoulder are messed up," May replies. "But without you, Pietro wouldn't have come down alive. How did you put the dragon to sleep?"

"Oh, after a few minutes, we realize it is a certain type of dragon. A Colchian Dragon, to be specific. And, to our luck, the Colchian Dragon is defeated by Jason and the Argonauts. The dragon is lulled to sleep by Medea when they got the golden fleece. It's good to know your enemies," one of the Muses replies from behind Calliope. I assume she is the Muse of history.

I think to myself to start taking classes on myths and monsters. "Thank you," I say, looking up at them, towering over me. I absently pluck a blade of grass, and May winces. She looks at me, giving me a warning stare.

"No problem. It really wasn't much. We just have to play really loudly," Calliope says with a tired smile. "We haven't worked that hard in a long time, and it felt really good."

While Calliope is saying that, I look up and mouth "sorry" to May, hoping I didn't hurt her that much. "Since the dragon wont be bothering us anymore, we should figure out where the gods we are."

"I can feel Mother stronger than before we got here, but I still can't tell where she is," a Muse from behind Calliope says.

"Yes, me too, so we should keep exploring," answers Calliope. "Will you be okay to walk?"

I look up to her and realize she is asking me. Dumbly, I reply. "Oh, yea, sorry. I think I can, as long as I can lean on someone."

She smiles and Reed helps me up. I lean on him, even with him carrying my backpack. "Thanks," I smile to him. He shrugs, and we shuffles toward The Muses. They put away their instruments, and I realize how sweaty and tired they are. A couple of them fumble and barely open their instrument cases.

They must have spend a lot of energy on putting that dragon to sleep," I wonder. Once they are all packed up, we start walking. We go up and down countless hills until we see a small thing on a particularly high hill.

The Muses start whispering quickly to themselves, and I try to make sense of it. Calliope finally shushes them and says in a louder voice for the three of us to hear. "We think out mother in in that hut, so I want to give you a warning. Mother is very spontaneous. She doesn't really like demigods, but if we are around, we can talk her out of wiping your memory."

"What?" I immediately object. "Does she really do that to people?" I look at May and Reed, seeing that they are also as worried as me.

"Not often," Calliope says curtly. She starts walking, signaling the end of the conversation. I glance at May and see she is as worried as me.

We keep walking toward the cabin and I start to notice wildlife as we get closer. A couple of deer roam around the hills and small animals scurry along the grass.

Once we are only a hundred paces away, I start to wonder who is in the cabin. The first thing that comes to mind is Mnemosyne, but what if The Muses are wrong, and something dangerous is in the hut. No one that has a pet dragon can be a good person, I think.

When we get within a few paces of the hut, I look at May and Reed, suddenly nervous. They also seem anxious, so we huddle together. Calliope motions for us to stop, and she walks forward.

"Mother, it is us, your children. We come in peace," Calliope calls ahead. I start worrying again, since Calliope have to say we are peaceful.

A moment later, a homeless lady comes out of the shack. Her hair is as black as the Muses', but wild and pointing in every direction. Her clothes are all torn up and battered. She has a cane in her hand and is waving it in the air. That's all I notice before she yells and I lose consciousness.


	35. Chapter 35

**Things heat up. Enjoy**

Chapter 35:

I wake up to find myself in a small city; multi-story buildings are all everywhere, and it is lightly raining. I know I shouldn't be here, but I don't feel worried. I try to rotate my head, but nothing happens. Around me is a large school bus with bustling people all around it. I command my legs to walk me forward and inspect these people, but to no avail.

I want to shout in frustration, but no one notices me. I hear the kids talking, some the age of six or seven to people in their mid twenties. A couple of people that are a little older than the average kid around, stand up in a raised platform in front of the bus, and call for attention.

Each of them talk for a certain amount of time, but I can't make out anything they say. After each person talks, a different group of kids cheer.

I get bored of trying to make out what these people are saying, so I look around to see where I am. My limited vision gives me only so much to work with.

However, behind the speakers, the bus has some weird things in it. I try to squint but realize I can't move, so I can't make out everything in the bus, but I can see a huge armory of weapons stacked inside. Dozens of swords and spears are standing straight up, with the blade on top. The blades are brownish, looking suspiciously like Celestial Bronze. Next to the hoards of swords are unstrung bows with sacks of arrows lying next to it.

My heart starts beating faster, wondering who these kids are, and why they are here, and if they want to do harm. I take my eyes off the bus and try to count how many kids are in the small clearing.

Before I can count more than a handful of kids, I hear someone call my name. "Pietro!"

At first, I think the people on the raised platform call my name, but they are still talking in their jumbled language to the kids looking up at them.

"Pietro! Wake up!" I hear the same familiar voice calling me, dragging me from the group of kids around me. "Come on, wake up!"

I am wrenched from the city and my eyes flutter open. May is standing over me, tears in her eyes. Her hair is disheveled and she is shaking me.

I smile and whisper a hello. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sit up. "Oh thank the gods you are awake. We though you lost your memory!" May sounds scared.

I stand up and remember my injury when it flames up with pain. The hut is still on the top of the hill and I'm still at the spot where I lost consciousness.

"You are out longer than Reed and me, so we think that old hag wiped your memory," May says, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"How long have I been out?" I ask, walking toward the hut. I hear Reed's voice talking heatedly with another, older voice.

"You must help us. If you do not, the gods of Olympus will crumble! An Olympian has almost never missed a Solstice council," Reed begs. "And it would be good to connect back with your family."

"Do not give me advice, demigod," who I assume is Mnemosyne, spits out. "What makes you think I want to see those stuck-up gods. They have no respect for their elders, they just kill each other." Her pale skin is a big contrast to her dark, dark hair.

"Yes I know, but…" Reed doesn't finish his think because May and I walk in to the hut. "Oh Pietro, you are awake!"

May gives Mnemosyne a harsh look, then smiles. "Yea, I was freaking out, because she say she might have wiped his memory." She scowls again.

"Oh please. I know my powers. I just made you forget to breathe, and bam, you are unconscious. A good trick, really," Mnemosyne brags, with a sly smile on her face.

"What!" May shrieks. "So he was never in any danger?" Reed quiets her, but I can tell she is seething in anger.

"Well, thank you for not putting us at any harm, and we understand your apprehension of meeting demigods. However, we really need your help, and the gods can give you whatever you want in return. Just please do this for us and your children will sing glorious songs about your help," Reed continues to pester her.

As he says it, he looks at The Muses that are walking in from wherever they went.

"Oh yes, we will dedicate a whole album to you, if you would like, Mother," Calliope smiles and nods her head.

"Stop showering me in fake, hollow gifts. If I don't want to help your stupid gods, then I won't!" Mnemosyne replies, angry. "Now leave me in peace or I will clear all your memories." She takes her cane and starts waving it around, jingling the things in her hair.

The Muses are the first to leave, probably already know first-hand how powerful Mnemosyne is. May follows, storming out, so Reed and I remain.

"We really need you to do this for us. I know that if you fix my mother, the gods will be ever grateful," Reed promises.

"I don't care for their gratitude!" Mnemosyne yells. "They always ignore us Titans and think we're scum. They cast us away to the corners of their kingdom, where they won't need to worry about us."

I stay quiet during her rant, seeing if I can use anything she says. Reed stays quiet with me. "And my poor brothers and sisters all live far from each other as beggars! Look at me! I'm a mess. We used to live like royalty!"

I have an idea, but wait until her rant is over. "And what will I gain from wasting my time with the gods? Most of them hate us, and they have never done any favors for us."

She quiets down and just seems to notice us in her shack. "What are you boys still doing here? No means no."

Reed looks at me nervously, but stays where he is. "Um, Mnemosyne, while you were, um, ranting, you talked about your living conditions," I begin nervously. I'm trying to explain my reasoning, but it isn't going too well. "Maybe, if you did a favor for the gods, they could do something for you. Since you said you live poorly, maybe we can ask to gods to give you places to live in on Olympus."

Reed nudges me with wide eyes. He gives his head a little shake, and I realize I'm bluffing. I haven't even met the gods before, and I doubt they would appreciate having to do something they didn't offer.

Mnemosyne paces around the room while I speak and when I finish, she walks up to me and laughs. "If you think the will waste time on building places for the Titans, you are a fool! And who ever said I would even want to live with the gods."

"Yes, I can imagine," I begin cautiously. I take a moment to gather my thoughts. "But I bet they will give you your own space for Titans. Just like how they did with the Minor Gods." The first thing Nico taught me is how the modern gods work, I use that knowledge in my argument. "How nice would it be to live in your own space, in the grandest palace you want, all with your brothers and sisters?"

I am hoping I enticed her with my imagination, because I'm all out of ideas. She does pause for a moment, thinking about my offer, which gives me hope.

"If you think the other Titans live like me, you're wrong. Way wrong. If you see homeless people on the street, it's probably a Titan. I'm probably the only Titan living normally. And that's just because I've stayed out of trouble," Mnemosyne monologues again. "I may consider it, just for my brothers and sisters."

I congratulate myself in my mind and turn back to Reed, who doesn't look happy. Mnemosyne shoos us out and we walk into the night.


End file.
